


D4 The Final Calculus Problem

by wsdsrdbw4096



Series: Dimension Four [10]
Category: Original Work, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1970s, Anachronistic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-26 03:07:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13226835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wsdsrdbw4096/pseuds/wsdsrdbw4096
Summary: Fourth entry of my Garfield Stephenson Wu series and sequel to Garfield and the Legend of the Phantom Cadet! with title taken from the Sherlock Holmes story The Final Problem.After graduating from high school, Garfield begins his undergraduate studies in civil engineering in university, where he takes a calculus course. However, the professor of the course is not only related to the infamous Napoleon of Crime but also named after the 19th century crime lord.Garfield is eventually dragged into another mystery when the professor becomes a prime suspect in a string of robberies, but things become complicated when a TA is found murdered and the evidence at the crime scene points the finger to the professor.





	1. Prologue and first calculus lecture

**Author's note: Here's the next installment of my Garfield Stephenson Wu series, folks!**

**As the title suggests, this story is named after the Sherlock Holmes story _The Final Problem_. As a matter a fact, this story features someone related to the main antagonist of the Sherlock Holmes story in question.**

**With that being said, this story does not feature any characters originally created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or any writers of the _Sherlock Holmes_  franchise, because if it did, then this story would've have Sherlock Holmes characters tagged.**

**Once again, I'll like to emphasize that the Garfield in this story is my character Garfield Wu, NOT his namesake Garfield the cat from the _Garfield_ comic strip created by Jim Davis.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Prologue and first calculus lecture

_September 10, 1971_

It has been almost a year since Garfield solved the mystery of the Phantom Cadet with the help of several cadet friends during a training night. In the year since then, a lot has happened to him.

In the weeks following his submission of university applications, complete with his school grades and the courses he was taking for Grade 12, he received a handful of entrance scholarship offers from the universities he had applied to.

One of his scholarship offers was from the University of Ottawa for the Civil Engineering, Mathematics and Geography programs he applied to, while the second scholarship offers was from Carleton University for the Civil Engineering and Geography programs he applied to.

It wouldn't be until May that he decided to accept Carleton University's admission offer to the civil engineering program, and then what followed was his spending most of a couple late-June afternoons at the university gym for the course selection.

It was a hassle for Garfield, given that there are plenty of compulsory courses he had to take, but that their timing and scheduling doesn't fit with the elective courses he was interested in taking, nor does it meeting the minimum credit requirements for first year, in addition to the fact that the place was packed with students doing the same thing.

But eventually, Garfield pulled through and managed to make his schedule work. In addition to the compulsory engineering, math and science courses, namely calculus, linear algebra, physics and chemistry, he also elected to take a geography course.

After getting through with the paper work, arranging the tuition payments and getting his hands on the textbooks over the late summer, he was all set for university.

In the same time period, Garfield got a part-time job working in the local grocery store in the Glebe neighbourhood as a cashier. It was his way for earning extra money, especially as he is to start university studies and needs to pay off the tuition.

In the weeks since he got the job, it was becoming more frequent for Garfield to head straight to the grocery store after school on Mondays and Wednesdays, and as the weeks passed by and turned into months, Garfield became more familiar with the job.

He got along with his co-workers and the store owner well, and they find him humourous and easy-going.

In the meantime, he found himself hanging out more-frequently with Rahman, Anita and sometimes with their friend Jamie Larson, all of whom shared excellent dynamics with him.

He will frequently hang around with them after school before heading to work, and they will at times share jokes or discuss homework.

In fact, Garfield found himself interacting with Anita frequently when it comes to working on their chemistry labs and assignments, and they will often discuss with each other about how the report should be typed up.

He will also never forget the particular day that past December when their chemistry class got cancelled due to the teacher calling in sick and the school wasn't able to find a substitute teacher in time.

With their friends Jordan Horner and his group deciding to go elsewhere to chill, Garfield found himself with Anita as they decided to hang out in the cafeteria.

The two friends sat across the table from each other in the otherwise largely-deserted cafeteria, and they decided to pass the time through some idle chatting and reading through their class notes.

As Garfield took out a pen and started drawing buses and trains on some older note pages, Anita watched him drawing before deciding to ask him something.

"Oh Garfield, just a bit of curiosity." She said, and Garfield paused his drawing before looking up.

"Ah, yes?" Garfield asked, noting the smile on her face.

"What type of music do you normally listen to?" Anita asked.

"Classical music." Garfield replied with a small smile.

"Ah, I see." Anita smiled, and in that instant, some feelings began filling Garfield's heart as he noted the smile on Anita's face.

He smiled back at her before they resumed whatever they were doing.

Looking back at that moment, Garfield certainly felt like he and Anita were on a date of sorts.

Later that afternoon after school, when Rahman and Anita decided to do some dance practicing, the former took out a gramophone and placed it on the nearby public gramophone player.

With the needle on the disk, the couple prepared for the dance practice.

As the gramophone player started playing the opening A major note of Johann Strauss, Jr.'s Blue Danube Waltz, Garfield immediately recognized the music.

"The Blue Danube Waltz." He said.

At the remark, Rahman turned to him with a smile.

"Ah, that's really good, Garfield." Rahman praised. "Being able to recognize the music right as it began."

"Garfield told me that he listens to classical music." Anita said to him.

"I see." Rahman nodded. "You sure got good musical tastes, Garfield."

Garfield simply nodded at the remark.

As a matter a fact, he felt that Rahman was becoming more like a brother to him particularly with their dynamic whenever they interact with each other.

He also remembered the time Rahman spotted him at Billings Bridge one Saturday while he was checking on the cadets doing poppy distribution for the Royal Canadian Legion in uniform.

Anyways, about a week after that December day with the cancelled chemistry class, Garfield was invited to Rahman's birthday party by Jamie, an invitation he happily accepted, especially since Rahman's birthday fell on a Monday but for that particular Monday, he wasn't scheduled to go to work.

So off they went after school, Garfield sandwiched between Rahman and Anita at the front and Jamie and her then-boyfriend Gerald.

At one point, while walking on Holmwood Avenue towards Bank Street, Jamie noticed something and said something to Rahman and Anita before saying "Never mind."

"He's right here." Rahman said.

"Who's right here?" Garfield asked as he arched his eyebrows, having been deep in thought during the conversation.

"Oh, we were talking about you, Garfield." Rahman said. "Jamie saw that guy with the red coat over there and thought you went far ahead of us."

Garfield looked ahead and spotted the person in question before nodding.

"Oh, I see." He said, noting the fact that he, too, was wearing a red coat. "If I was really that far ahead, when I reach Bank Street and saw that you guys weren't here, I'm gonna be like 'Hey, where are you guys at?' or 'Did I lose you guys?'"

"Oh yeah, you're probably going to be like 'Oh no, I'm lost!'" Rahman said, and they all joined him in laughing.

Garfield will also never forget the last day of school before the Christmas break, where it snowed a lot the whole day and the school was pretty much half-full the day.

Anyways, after school, he hung around with Rahman and Anita, entertaining them with his violin-playing until it was like almost 17:00 and with the school hallway deserted and his rendering of Vivaldi's A minor Violin Concerto, the area certainly looked spooked and haunted, something which Rahman noticed as Garfield was almost finished with the final movement.

They eventually found themselves discussing ghost stories, such as one taking place in a haunted school with a group finding themselves locked in it.

It was then that Garfield realized that part of the reason why he felt he shares great dynamic with Rahman and Anita and Jamie is because of their finding common ground in story-telling.

When he turned 17 this past June, Garfield took the liberty of inviting Rahman and Anita to his home for a birthday party.

Anita will eventually asked him if Jamie can join them, and Garfield agreed, especially after Jamie helped him with his Grade 12 Tech. Design project where he was struggling to finish his model dream room.

On their last day of high school before graduation and summer, the four hung out together and went to the bakery on Bank Street where they've celebrated Rahman's birthday six months earlier.

During that time, Rahman told Garfield about the time in Grade 10 when at times, during lunch period, he will walk through the cafeteria.

"And then, I look around and saw you sitting all by yourself in the cafeteria and was like, 'Man, that guy sure is lonely.'" Rahman said to Garfield.

"Ah, I see." Garfield nodded before thinking to himself, "That was back when I was new to Glebe, having had transferred from Hillcrest High."

"Later, I was talking to Jordan the other day and he was like, 'Yo, Garfield's been getting all the girls' attention, especially since he solved that mystery regarding those string of thefts and uncovered the key to Bruce Stevenson's last will.'" Rahman continued. "And I was like, 'Who's Garfield?' It was only when I walked through the cafeteria and saw you seated at your usual spot that I realize who you were."

At the remark, Garfield arched his eyebrows, caught off-guard by how he had managed to attract Rahman's attention way back in Grade 10.

But then again, he figured that he shouldn't be surprised, because after all, Rahman and Anita already attracted his attention on his first day in Glebe.

Anyways, on his 17th birthday, Garfield had a lot of fun with Rahman, Anita and Jamie as they hung out together and had lunch.

They enjoyed their lunch and snack at a restaurant where they also can play board games and cards, and they had a great time playing cards.

One thing to note was that all of this was a day before he, his brother Dave, sisters Emma and Diana and their mother Melissa were due to fly to Melbourne, Australia for one of his aunts' wedding.

From her family, Melissa is the oldest of three daughters though she is the middle child.

Her second-youngest sister Janet is the one that is getting married a few days after his 17th birthday, and Melissa decided to make the occasion to fly to Melbourne with the siblings performing in the wedding party.

Her youngest sister Rebecca had already gotten married eight years back and is the mother of two girls. Like Janet, Rebecca currently lives in Melbourne with her family and it's been a long while since Garfield last saw them.

Needless to say, the trip to Australia was a lot of fun, in spite of the fact that it's winter over there while it's summer in Canada.

It also came before David and the sisters were due to head for cadet summer camp and Garfield taking part in international air cadet exchange in early July, so they actually only got to stay in Australia for ten days.

For the summer, David was accepted to aerodrome operations & management camp, which takes place over at RCAF Station North Bay, located a two-hour train ride away from Ottawa.

Several hours after returning to Ottawa and catching up with some sleep, David took off with his pre-packed belongings for Ottawa Union Station to meet up with the travel committee also heading for North Bay, whereupon they took the scheduled CN Rail passenger train bound for North Bay.

In the meantime, Emma was accepted to advanced aviation camp, which takes place over at RCAF Station Greenwood with travel requiring first a train-ride to Montreal followed by a flight to Halifax and then a bus ride to Greenwood.

Diana was accepted to advanced leadership and drill instructor camp, which takes place over at RCAF Station Bagotville with travel also requiring first a train-ride to Montreal. After arriving at Montreal, she and the cadets heading for Bagotville are transferred to another train that continues on to Bagotville with major stops at Trois Rivieres and Quebec City along the way.

As for Garfield's international air cadet exchange, he ended up on a two-week trip to Japan with a few other cadets from other parts of the country, and he fully enjoyed the trip, particularly with the meeting with their Japanese counterparts and Garfield surprising them with his fluency in Japanese.

He, in fact, befriended an officer candidate of the Japanese Army who's also taking part in pilot training.

"Officer Candidate Hideo Uchida." The officer candidate introduced himself in English when they first met.

" _吳廣慶一級准尉。_ " (Warrant Officer First Class Garfield Wu.) Garfield introduced himself as he bowed. " _請多多指教。_ " (Pleased to meet you.)

" _啊，你也會講日文啊?_ " (Ah, you can speak Japanese too?) Uchida asked Garfield.

" _是的。我曾經跟我家人搬回去臺灣住，所以我可以用日語、閩南語、客家語和中國的標準漢語溝通的。_ " (Yes. My family and I once moved back to live in Taiwan for a while, so I can communicate in Japanese, Hokkien, Hakka and Mandarin Chinese as well.) Garfield replied.

" _原來如此。_ " (I see.) Uchida nodded understandingly.

Anyways, given that the 1970-1971 school year was Garfield's last prior to graduation, he had placed an order on the school yearbook, and when the yearbook finally arrived in June, he was among the students to get it early on.

In the days that followed, Garfield gathered signatures accompanied by well-wishes from dozens of his friends and favourite teachers, plenty of which were written in Chinese while the vast majority were written in English.

Rahman, who together with Anita were among the first to write well-wishes and sign their names on his yearbook, later pointed out that Garfield has got his blank pages on the yearbook filled with signatures when he showed them his yearbook on the last day of school.

Only one friend left a bilingual signature and well-wish on his yearbook, and that friend was none other than Rebecca Lee, who wrote in both English and Chinese.

She was, in fact, one of the last of Garfield's friends to sign his yearbook and Garfield was lucky to run into her in the cafeteria on the last day of school.

Speaking of Rebecca, Garfield find himself getting closer to her over the course of the first semester. He occasionally stayed with her in Design Tech. class after school as she worked on house design. They also worked together in building model houses for the class project in late January.

It was during this time that Garfield caught a glimpse of Rebecca's boyfriend when she brought him with her into the classroom, and he decided to focus more on finishing his model house to avoid feeling jealous.

Sometime later, a few days before Valentine's Day, Garfield heard from rumours that Rebecca had broken up with her boyfriend, though he didn't think of it to be true until Rebecca told him and some friends about the fact during lunch period.

By that point, it was the second semester and Garfield no longer shared a class with Rebecca, though he does see her from time to time and they will said hi to each other.

As a matter a fact, Garfield had invited Rebecca over to his 17th birthday party in June, though Rebecca later conferred with him and told him that she has to meet with a visiting relative that day and couldn't make it.

Of course, Garfield was alright with the arrangement, especially since Rebecca still wished him a happy birthday and hoping that he enjoys his trip to Australia.

Anyways, during the course of his trip, first to Australia and then to Japan, when alone and seeing a beautiful scenery, Garfield had wished that Rebecca is with him to enjoy the trips, especially with the trip to Australia where he certainly be happy to introduce Rebecca to his aunts, uncles and cousins.

As he found himself developing feelings towards Rebecca, Garfield also thought that he should introduce her to Rahman, Anita and Jamie someday.

The more he thought about the idea, the more he liked it.

In the meantime, Garfield will found himself in the spotlight again after he was instrumental in stopping a speeding streetcar from derailing this past early April.

It came after he returned home from Toronto following a conference, where he got off the CP Rail passenger train at Ottawa Union Station and got on the Route 4 streetcar heading for Carleton University and Billings Bridge.

The close-call came when the streetcar started to pick up on speed after making the turn from Bank Street onto Catherine Street, travelling along the Queensway and the Ottawa, Arnprior, Renfrew and Parry Sound Railway.

Then, the streetcar missed a couple of requested stops and when passengers begin to figure out something was amiss, they decided to check on the operator when he didn't respond to their yells that their stops has been missed.

It was a lady passenger who discovered the operator slumped onto the dashboard, and she quickly turned and asked, "Does anyone on board know how to operate a streetcar?"

Everyone turned and looked at each other, where it was Garfield who stepped in.

"I've done my high school co-op at the OTC and part of it included some basics on how to operate a streetcar - in the car barns, of course." He quickly said. "I may know a thing or two about applying the brakes. In the meantime, though, someone needs to provide first aid to the operator and fast."

At his remark, a handful of men on board moved to the front to pulled the driver off the seat so Garfield can take over. The task was more difficult considering the fact that they're on a moving streetcar.

"You better be quick!" The woman said. "We're fast-approaching Bronson Avenue!"

Garfield nodded as he looked at the controls on the dashboard before seeing the fast-approaching red light ahead. They were maybe a couple blocks away from Bronson Avenue, but either way, time isn't on his side with the streetcar speeding up.

As the passengers look over the unconscious driver, Garfield figured that he need to make some split decisions.

Pointing at some of the controls, he thought back to the time when he was shown how to apply the brakes on the streetcar.

With traffic on Catherine Street facing a red light and several cars are still running along Bronson Avenue, Garfield swiftly moved to ring the bell urgently with one hand while the second hand moved on the controls.

With Bronson Avenue one block away, Garfield quickly found the brakes and started to apply.

"Heads up!" He exclaimed right before applying the brakes.

At his urgent application of the brakes, everyone on board lurched forward as the metal wheels coming to an abrupt stop screeches with the metal tracks.

At the intersection, several vehicles crossing the intersection came to an abrupt stop as the speeding OTC streetcar approaches the curved tracks turning left onto the southbound Bronson Avenue lanes.

The streetcar miraculously stayed on the tracks as it slowed down considerably before coming to a complete stop under the highway and railway bridge.

With the streetcar coming to a full stop, everyone on board sighed in relief as Garfield moved swiftly to pick up the phone.

"Operator, this is streetcar 417 right under the Queensway overpass on Bronson Avenue and we need to call 911 for the operator." He spoke urgently when the party on the other end answered.

Eventually, the paramedics arrived at the scene and took the unconscious operator to the hospital for observations.

And as things turned out, the passenger that provided first aid to the operator happened to be the air attaché posted at the Australian High Commission and the group captain commended Garfield for his bravery and maintaining calm during the situation.

The air attaché then recommended Garfield for a medal for bravery when he learned of Garfield's service with the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and made a note to inform the Australian high commissioner about the incident.

And that's how a couple weeks after the close-call, Garfield received an invitation to the Rideau Hall.

Dressed in his full service uniform, Garfield found himself in the company of a handful of other soldiers, where the Chief of the Defence Staff, RCAF Air Chief Marshal F. Sharp, was there to personally award them with the medal for bravery.

It was one of Garfield's proudest days as he was congratulated by the witnesses present at the event, including the Governor General. A stern-looking army staff sergeant present at the event told him in private that he should be proud of himself.

That wasn't the only reward Garfield received with regards to his brave actions that day. Some weeks later, during one cadet training night, he received an invite from the visiting Chief of the Air Staff personally.

In the invitation, Air Marshal Walter Connolly told Garfield that the Chairman of the Chief of Staffs Committee of the Australian military is going to visit Ottawa in the next few days and that he is going to award a medal of bravery to a certain cadet in recognition for his role in averting a serious streetcar accident in which a serving Royal Australian Air Force group captain was a passenger on board the out of control streetcar.

Needless to say, Garfield found himself with seven medal ribbons on his uniform by the time he was promoted to Warrant Officer First Class in late April, a promotion that came after St. Laurent reached his 19th birthday.

The promotion came with his appointment as the cadet squadron parade commander.

By the time of the annual passout parade in late May, he was made the cadet wing parade commander for all of 6th Wing.

Anyways, after returning from his exchange trip to Japan, Garfield relaxed and did plenty of biking on weekends while preparing himself for first year studies.

He took part in frosh week and made a few more friends with his group, and he thoroughly enjoyed the activities, which included dancing with the music and taking part in boat-building for a race on the Rideau Canal on the last day of Frosh Week.

The boat race is due to take place two days from today. Right now, Garfield is seated in his seat in a lecture hall for his afternoon calculus class.

As usual, Garfield seated on his own at the front, not that he minded - after all, it was a habit he began to develop after the lecture on the previous day.

The students chatted among themselves before the professor entered the lecture room and made his way to the front desk and blackboard.

It was 16:05 when the professor, with the ribbon microphone by his chin, started to speak.

"I'm assuming all of you are here for Calculus I for Engineers and Scientists." He spoke. "If you're not a scientist or engineer and are seated in this lecture hall, then either you're in the wrong class, or you're here in this class to raise some tough questions and give me a hard time."

There was a murmur of laughter from the students, and the professor smiled.

"Oh well." The professor continued after looking around the lecture hall and saw no one leaving the room. "Since none of you are leaving, I'm assuming you're all first year engineering or science students ready to take on calculus."

The professor then moved to the blackboard before continuing, "Anyways, I believe an introduction is in order, though I should warn you that anyone who has read or is familiar with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's series of biographies on the famous detective at the turn of the century London, Sherlock Holmes, will find my name to warrant your giving me a tough time throughout the semester."

Everyone in the lecture room arched their eyebrows, including Garfield, and there was some more murmuring from the students.

The professor then proceeded to write his name on the blackboard, and everyone leaned forward to take a good look at what he has written.

"Professor James Moriarty, Jr." The words read, and in an instant, you can hear a pin drop in the room.

"Yes." Professor Moriarty nodded. "That's my name, though I suppose most of you are aware of my grand uncle's infamous reputation back in London."

"The Napoleon of Crime." One of the students at the back remarked.

"Exactly." Professor Moriarty said. "Professor James Moriarty, Sr. is the infamous Napoleon of Crime who has been a thorn to Sherlock Holmes side in the course of his career, and James, Sr. happened to be my namesake."

* * *

**One thing to note, folks, going forward: The Professor Moriarty in this particular story is the professor of Garfield's calculus course (James "Jim" Moriarty, Jr.), not his infamous grand uncle, The Napoleon of Crime (James Moriarty, Sr., or the original Professor Moriarty).**

**Anyways, Happy New Year and stay tuned on what's to come.**


	2. A conversation on the train

Chapter 2: A conversation on the train

As Professor Moriarty begins the lecture, Garfield looked around the hall and spotted someone he had met in Frosh Week during the water rafting event in Renfrew this past Tuesday right after Labour Day.

In the morning of the water rafting event, the students are to gather in their teams as they meet up at the parking lot near the CP Rail tracks running through the university campus (The CP Rail Ellwood Subdivision, to be precise).

Garfield remembered that particular morning fondly, as while waiting for the chartered shuttle bus to depart for Union Station downtown, he spotted a CP Rail freight train running south on the Ellwood Subdivision.

"Probably heading south to either the Walkley Yards, Kemptville or Prescott." Garfield thought to himself as he took out his Polaroid instant camera and snapped a photo of the freight train, capturing the diesel locomotive hauling the first three freight cars.

A few minutes went by before the shuttle bus finally departed. Due to the NCC prohibiting commercial vehicles on Colonel By Drive, the shuttle bus had to first drive north on Sunnyside Avenue, whereupon it then makes a left turn onto Riverdale Avenue, followed by a left turn onto Main Street.

Before long, the shuttle bus made its way through Elgin, where it passed by the occasional early morning Route 5 streetcar as it made its way to Union Station.

Soon, the students have arrived at the entrance of Union Station, where each of them were handed a two-way train ticket from Ottawa to Renfrew.

The train they're riding is an early-morning CN Rail passenger train bound for Parry Sound, during which it will make major stops at the Elgin Junction, Graham Bay, Carp and Kilburn before crossing into Ontario, where it then makes major stops at Arnprior, Renfrew and Algonquin Provincial Park before reaching its destination at Depot Harbour, just in the outskirts of Parry Sound.

Much of the one-hour train ride was uneventful, though Garfield had his Polaroid camera ready for the scenery.

As the train departed from Graham Bay and passed the under construction Bayshore Shopping Centre, Garfield saw an eastbound CP Rail  _Canadian_ crossing the new temporary rail bridge as part of the CP Rail Carleton Place Subdivision realignment and eventual twinning and electrification project.

He snapped a photo of the Montreal-bound train before the CN train crosses under the CP Rail bridge, whereupon the train carried on westward.

His next photo was taken as the train was crossing the Mississippi River, whereupon the train enters Ontario and prepares to slow down as it approaches the Arnprior CN Rail station.

Another ten minutes went by before the train slowly pulled into the westbound platform of Renfrew CN Rail station, by which point the students got off and headed for the waiting chartered Cassalman Bus Lines coach.

Upon arrival, the students that were going water rafting were given numbered tags. Groups that are given the same number go water rafting together when their number gets called.

Garfield was originally not planning on going water rafting, though with the hotter than normal weather that week, he changed his mind and paid the extra five dollars to go water rafting.

Needless to say, he fully enjoyed water rafting, especially with him being grouped with a group of interesting students.

Of course, for students that decided not to go water rafting, are awaiting their turn to go water rafting or have finished water rafting, the facility has arcade games available, which included a couple of billiards pool, table tennis, a handful of pinball machines, board games and playing cards.

Garfield found himself at the pool table playing billiards with some students, and he had proved himself to be skilled in the game.

It was also during this time that he made a handful of new friends, including a girl who reminded him of a high school friend of his.

All the students are wearing the issued frosh shirts with their names and programs written on the shirts.

For the girl in question, Garfield saw that she, too, is in civil engineering and that her name is Kate.

As it turned out, Kate is from Hong Kong, though her family moved to Toronto when she was younger and Garfield found himself preferring to chat with her in English.

Anyways, as the calculus lecture began, Garfield spotted Kate seated near the entrance to the lecture hall and nodded at her when she saw him.

Kate nodded back at him and waved in greeting.

* * *

When the lecture ended at 17:30, Garfield walked over to join Kate as she and her friend were about to leave.

"Hey Garfield." Kate said in greeting. Like Garfield, Kate also wears a pair of glasses.

"Hey Kate." Garfield nodded. "What do you think of the class?"

"Ah, looks straight forward." Kate said as they exited the lecture hall. "However, the prof does seem a bit weird, especially with his name and relation to that infamous Napoleon of Crime at the turn of the century London."

"Oh yeah." Garfield nodded in agreement. "He does seem like a decent chap, but yeah, maybe a bit eccentric."

Kate nodded in agreement.

* * *

_September 14, 1971_

That evening at cadet training night, Garfield was speaking to a handful of cadet friends who are also attending Carleton University, including a few from the Girls Venture Corps Air Cadets squadron attached to 6th Wing.

"Oh yeah, how's university treating you so far, Wu?" Under Officer First Class Rachel Leclerc, who's the Girls Venture Corps Air Cadet squadron's cadet parade commander, asked.

Like Garfield, Leclerc is also attending Carleton University, though her program of study is business management and administration.

"Oh, first year civil engineering." Garfield said. "So far so good."

"What did you think of the classes so far?" UO2 Helen Chan, who's the Girls Venture Corps Air Cadet squadron's squadron under officer, asked Garfield. "I'm guessing you're taking a calculus course that is in a different section than mine, since I didn't see you in yesterday afternoon's calculus lecture."

Like Garfield, Chan is also attending Carleton University and studying civil engineering. In fact, Garfield ran into her on the fall orientation day that past Wednesday.

"Oh, you're in Section B, eh?" Garfield asked Chan.

"Yes I am." Chan nodded.

"Yeah, because I'm in Section C." Garfield said.

"Ah, okay." Chan said. "Did you have McKeller as your prof?"

"No, and here's the interesting part about the prof for my section." Garfield said. "Are you guys familiar with Sherlock Holmes?"

His friends all shared a look with each other before a few of them nodded.

"He's the famous detective at the turn of the century London who helped police solved crimes." WO2 Larry Pendrick, who's the squadron warrant officer, said.

"Exactly." Garfield said. "Now, my calculus prof happened to be related to the most dangerous man at turn-of-the-century London."

"Professor Moriarty?" Flight Sergeant Sandra Pruitt, who's the new drum major for the Girls Venture Corps squadron, asked.

"That's him." Garfield nodded. "My calculus prof is not only the Napoleon of Crime's grand nephew but is also named after him."

"Wow." Chan remarked. "I have a handful of friends in class who told me that some of their friends got the descendant of a criminal mastermind as their prof. That totally explains things."

"It sure does." Garfield agreed. "He does seem like an interesting chap with a sense of humour, though he does seem eccentric."

"I do have a few friends that are in second year who had him as a prof when they were in first year, and they told me that he's very brilliant." Chan said. "He explains math theories well and they said that he has tricks on integrating functions and proving trigonometric identities flawlessly."

"Ah, I see." Garfield nodded thoughtfully.

* * *

_September 25, 1971_

That morning, Garfield found himself standing on the platform of Ottawa Union Station as he waited for a CP Rail passenger train bound for Toronto to show up.

His trip to Carleton Place, in which the Toronto-bound CP Rail passenger train makes a major stop at, comes a few days after he got invited over to a party there by an old friend.

George and Henry Stevenson, who was among the beneficiaries of the Bruce Stevenson estate that Garfield helped settled three years back, have bought a farm house in Carleton Place and with their 75th birthdays coming up and their family and friends celebrating, they decided to invite Garfield over to Carleton Place, an invitation he happily accepted.

**(Note: See _D4 Garfield and the Secret of the School Library!_  for more information on the Bruce Stevenson estate settlement.)**

It didn't take long before the Toronto-bound train pulled into the station platform, and before long, the train was crossing the Alexandria Bridge as it travels counterclockwise on the downtown Ottawa-Hull loop with stops at Gare Centrale de Hull and Gare de Hull-Ouest before crossing the Prince of Wales Bridge back into Ottawa with a major stop at Ottawa West Station at Bayview Road and eventually carrying on down the CP Rail Carleton Place Subdivision.

After the train pulled into Westboro Station, a handful of passengers got off the train while another handful got on.

As Garfield looked out the window, he arched his eyebrows when he saw Professor Moriarty getting on the train.

The calculus professor made his way down the aisle before spotting Garfield and paused.

"Mr. Wu." The professor said in greeting.

"Ah, good day, professor." Garfield nodded. "Nice day outside, isn't it?"

"Yes it is." Moriarty nodded. "So how are you enjoying your first year of university?"

"You sure can say that we're getting onto the challenging part of university with all those labs and assignments to work on." Garfield said.

"Indeed." Moriarty said as he took a seat across from Garfield's. "You're in engineering, am I correct?"

"Yes, sir." Garfield nodded. "I'm studying civil engineering, to be exact."

"I see." Moriarty nodded thoughtfully. "So you're interested in building the country's infrastructure."

"Yes I am, sir." Garfield said. "I'm interested in railway engineering, as a matter a fact."

"Ah, I suppose it's safe to say, then, that if Ottawa gets a lot more railways in the future, we can all know who was responsible for the design." The professor joked, and Garfield have a small chuckle at the remark.

After some laughs, Garfield looked on as the professor took out a pipe, some vanilla grass and a match before striking it.

"Do you mind?" Moriarty asked as he held the match by the bowl of his pipe.

"No sir." Garfield shook his head and the professor nodded as he placed the fire tip of the match into the chamber of the bowl before shaking the match to extinguish the flame and tossed it into the nearby trash bin.

As the professor began producing a few puffs from his pipe, Garfield decided to ask him a question in his mind.

"So professor, just curious, how long have you been living here in Canada?" Garfield asked.

"Ah, since the war ended." Moriarty replied as he took the pipe out of his mouth. "At that time, I was still young and with Britain devastated by the war and in hearing about opportunities for a new life here in Canada, I decided to sail across the Atlantic, where I initially settled down in Montreal to teach part time at McGill University, working at the Dominion Bureau of Statistics where my expertise in statistical analysis and application of calculus and linear algebra methods to optimize data analysis proved handy."

"I see." Garfield nodded thoughtfully as the professor exhaled some smoke towards the partially-opened window. "You eventually begin teaching calculus full time, sir?"

"Yes." Moriarty nodded. "The faculty recognized my brilliance in solving problems and interacting with students and so they promoted me to teaching full time. Of course, that came with some competition and then, when I heard about the new Carleton University still in need for a calculus professor, so I applied for the transfer to the nation's capital and the rest is history."

"Ah, okay." Garfield said. "Have you made any voyages back to Britain after settling down in Canada, sir?"

"Yes, to visit family." The professor nodded. "I've got a brother in Manchester and a handful of other relatives in Edinburgh, Scotland. In addition, I've got plenty of friends who're doing well in London."

"I see." Garfield nodded thoughtfully. "I've always wanted to visit London, who, you know, is the cultural, economic and political centre of Britain. British culture and colonial history has always fascinated me, especially with the old saying that 'the sun never sets in the British Empire'."

"Ah, that's very good to hear." Moriarty nodded. "And the old saying was indeed, true. At its peak, you've got the United Kingdom, its major dominions like Canada, Australia, Newfoundland, South Africa and New Zealand, in addition to the colonial possessions in Africa, India and Hong Kong, the latter also known as 'Pearl of the Orient'. In fact, I've spent some of my younger days in Hong Kong as my father was a civil servant working at the colonial government of Hong Kong back in the day."

"Wow." Garfield remarked. "I've got a friend who's from Hong Kong and I actually had promised her that I'll visit Hong Kong some day."

"Good to hear." Moriarty said. "Are you...?"

"I was born here in Ottawa, but my family are from Taiwan and I've spent several years growing up there." Garfield said. "In addition, I've got a couple of aunts and other relatives living in Melbourne, Australia."

"I see." Moriarty nodded thoughtfully. "One of my distant cousins lives in Sydney and we've sent telegraphs to each other from time to time. Place is good, though the summers can get unbearably hot."

"So I've read." Garfield said.

By that point, the train has pulled out of Goulbourn Station in the village of Stittsville and is speeding down the tracks towards Carleton Place.

"Anyways, what brings you here on this train to Toronto, Mr. Wu?" Moriarty asked.

"I've got a friend who recently moved to Carleton Place and today's his birthday and I'm invited to the party." Garfield explained.

"Ah, that certainly explains your casual-formal dress, Mr. Wu." The professor nodded. "For me, I'm on my way to Peterborough to meet up with a friend teaching calculus at Trent University, where I'll be staying there overnight."

"Oh, okay." Garfield nodded thoughtfully.

Another pause went by as the professor returned to smoking his pipe and Garfield can smell the vanilla.

"It certainly smells like vanilla ice cream, Professor." He remarked.

"Yes indeed it does." Moriarty nodded. "That's because this is vanilla grass, which I prefer smoking over the typical tobacco."

"Hopefully, vanilla grass isn't as deadly to smoke as tobacco." Garfield said. "Because I read that smoking can cause lung cancer."

"Yes, I am aware of that." Moriarty nodded. "Hence the reason why I'm not using tobacco in my pipe."

Garfield nodded thoughtfully before they resumed doing their usual stuff.

Eventually, the train horn sounded as it slowly pulls into the platform of Carleton Place Station.

"Here's my stop." Garfield said as he got up from his seat. "Hope you have a nice day, professor."

"Thank you, Mr. Wu." Moriarty nodded. "And same to you."

Garfield nodded as he tipped his flat cap and made his way to the nearest door.

Eventually, the train horn sounded before it started pulling out of the station, passing through the junction whereupon it then continues on southbound on the CP Rail Brockville Subdivision en route to Smiths Falls and Toronto.

Little did they realize that something in store is about to happen in Peterborough during the professor's overnight stay.

* * *

_September 26, 1971_

That morning, Garfield got the Sunday edition of the Ottawa Citizen while on his way to take the streetcar to meet up with some university friends in downtown.

The first thing that caught his eye was the newspaper headline. It read:

"SHADES OF THE NAPOLEON OF CRIME

Massive armed robbery at the Dominion Capital Bank branch in Peterborough, one police constable injured by thugs"

* * *

**Uh oh. What's going to happen next?**

**Stay tuned, and please read and review!**


	3. A painting and a conversation in the office

Chapter 3: A painting and a conversation in the office

Later, as Garfield met with his friends in downtown, his mind remained on the news on the robbery that took place in Peterborough the day before.

For the most part, the topic of conversations centred around how things are coming along for both life and their university studies.

After lunch, as the group continued hanging out in downtown and took a look at the shops on Rideau Street, the topic of conversation shifted to current events.

"Did you guys read about the bank robbery in Peterborough yesterday?" His friend Robert, who's from Sudbury, asked.

"Oh yes." Another friend, named Jessica, who's from Ottawa and graduated from Hillcrest High School, nodded. "I read that a police constable was injured by the thugs that pulled off the job."

"And the paper also reported that the robbery have shades of the crimes committed by the Napoleon of Crime in turn of the century London." Kate added.

"Speaking of which, guys, you should hear this out." Garfield said at the mention of the massive bank robbery. "Yesterday, I ran into Professor Moriarty while on the train to Toronto."

"Oh, really?" Robert asked as they turned to him.

"Yes." Garfield nodded. "I was on my way to Carleton Place to visit a friend, whose birthday was yesterday, and at Westboro Station, I saw Professor Moriarty getting on the train. He then saw me and sat with me and we had a long chat before I got off at my station."

"I see." Kate nodded. "What brought the professor onto the train?"

"He said he was visiting a friend who is teaching calculus at Trent University in Peterborough, and he told me that he was going to stay there overnight." Garfield replied.

"Right at where yesterday's bank robbery took place." Jessica pointed out.

"Exactly." Garfield nodded. "Now, one of my squadron training officers in cadets is with the Ottawa police and I think I should ask him if his colleagues in Peterborough have any leads in yesterday's bank robbery."

* * *

_September 28, 1971_

The opening parade for the training night that evening went by as usual and soon, with the majority of the cadets in class, Garfield and the seniors who aren't teaching classes were walking around the barracks.

"You read about the massive bank robbery at Peterborough this past weekend, Wu?" Flight Sergeant Gilbert Nimoy, who succeeded Pendrick as the flight commander for Flight 3, asked as he and Garfield walked.

"Yes, I did." Garfield nodded. "As a matter a fact, I ran into my university calculus prof on the CP train to Toronto this past Saturday, where he told me that he was going to Peterborough for a meeting with his colleague."

"He's the guy that's related to Professor Moriarty of Sherlock Holmes fame, isn't he?" Nimoy asked.

"Indeed he is." Garfield nodded again. "And the bank robbery has shades of the robberies committed by Moriarty's gang at turn-of-the-century London."

"Now that is one unfortunate coincidence, eh?" Nimoy remarked.

"You can say that." Garfield agreed.

It was then that the duo spotted Flying Officer Lenny speaking to Squadron Leader Nash up ahead.

Lenny spotted Garfield and Nimoy as he listened to what Nash was saying, and he nodded at them.

"Mr. Wu, Mr. Nimoy." Lenny said after Nash finished speaking.

"Sirs." Both Garfield and Nimoy nodded before pausing and saluting the two officers.

Once the four all put their hands back down, Lenny said, "The night is young."

"Indeed, sirs." Nimoy nodded.

"Are you gentlemen in need for something?" Nash asked.

"Not really, sirs." Garfield shook his head. "Though I take it that you both have read the news on the recent armed robbery over at Peterborough this past weekend, eh?"

"Oh yes, we have." Nash said as Lenny nodded. "Quite the robbery job, I have to say, from what the paper's been saying."

"Indeed." Lenny agreed. "My colleagues over at Peterborough are actively investigating the case, though from what I've gathered, the only evidence on the possible culprit is a postcard with  _The Girl With the Gazelle_  as the background."

" _The Girl With the Gazelle_." Garfield repeated. "The famous painting by Jean-Baptiste Greuze that went missing in 1946 while on display at the British Museum and was never recovered."

"And legend has it that the disappearance was a result of a heist Professor Moriarty have planned but never carried out after meeting his end at Reichenbach Falls." Lenny nodded.

"Oh, speaking of which, sir, guess who I ran into on Saturday while on the train to Carleton Place to meet with the Stevensons." Garfield said.

"Who did you ran into, Mr. Wu?" Nash asked.

"Professor James Moriarty, Jr., who teaches my university calculus class, sir." Garfield said.

"You mean, the grandnephew of the infamous Professor Moriarty?" Lenny raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, sir." Garfield nodded. "I ran into him after the Toronto-bound CP train stopped at Westboro Station, and during the ride before I got off at Carleton Place, he told me that he was visiting a friend in Peterborough and staying there overnight."

"Which was also the time that massive bank robbery took place." Nash interjected.

"Exactly, sir." Garfield nodded again.

Nash and Lenny shared a look with each other before they nodded thoughtfully.

"That's one interesting and unfortunate coincidence." Lenny remarked.

"Indeed." Nash nodded. "Hopefully, your colleagues would get to the bottom of the case, Roger."

"Yes, I certainly hope so, especially when one of their own is injured by the fiends that pulled the job." Lenny nodded in agreement.

* * *

_September 29, 1971_

That afternoon, Garfield was once again seated with Kate and Robert for their calculus class.

The class went by as usual, with the professor making no mention of his trip to Peterborough.

Wednesdays are also the day that Professor Moriarty holds his office hours right after the lecture, and for that particular day, Garfield has to pick up a marked assignment which he had forgotten to pick up while at last weeks tutorial.

After the lecture was finished, Garfield and a few other students that had the same thought as him followed Moriarty to his office.

The marked assignments were sorted by the students' last names, and it didn't take long for Garfield to find his marked assignment.

As Garfield placed the assignment in his binder with the class notes, he looked around Moriarty's office and noticed a particular painting.

"The  _Girl With the Gazette_." He said as he nodded at the plaque indicating the title of the painting. "Painted by Jean-Baptiste Greuze."

"Ah yes." Moriarty nodded. "Quite the masterpiece, though it's a shame this isn't the original painting."

"You mean this one is a replica of the painting that was stolen from the British Museum in 1946, Professor?" Garfield asked as he nodded at the painting.

"Yes." Moriarty nodded again. "My friends at England told me about the beauty of the painting and that the heist that resulted in its disappearance was said to be planned by my infamous granduncle before his downfall at Reichenbach Falls."

"I see." Garfield nodded thoughtfully. "Speaking of heist, did you read about the recent bank robbery at Peterborough this past weekend, Professor?"

"Yes, I did." Moriarty replied. "Quite the heist those thugs pulled, eh?"

"Indeed." Garfield said. "I heard that the police found a postcard of the painting right there at the crime scene."

"A postcard with the  _Girl with the Gazette_?" Moriarty raised an eyebrow. "Now that's interesting."

"And hopefully, you were at your friend's place when the bank robbery occurred, Professor." Garfield said.

"What do you mean, Mr. Wu?" Moriarty looked at Garfield.

"You know, with your reputation as being the grandnephew of the infamous Napoleon of Crime and sharing his name, Professor, I won't be surprised if some people started to suspect that you may have something to do with the heist in Peterborough this past weekend." Garfield said.

"Oh yes, I always get those types of suspicious looks from others when they learned my name." Moriarty nodded. "Though I can certainly assure you that there's no way I have anything to do with the heist. I've already earned enough as a professor and working at Stats, and I'm not willing to trade those for anything else."

"I understand, Professor." Garfield nodded. "I'm just saying."

"No need to apologize, my boy." Moriarty waved his hand dismissively. "I'm aware of your reputation in helping the Ottawa police solve cases, so I understand what you're thinking."

"You know of my exploits, Professor?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Moriarty nodded. "I've read of you playing a major role in the settlement of the Bruce Stevenson estate three years back, and given Bruce's reputation in town, I'm sure you understand why your name gets mentioned in the papers in the days that followed the settlement."

"Ah, okay." Garfield nodded before asking, "Say, you referred to him as 'Bruce', Professor. You know him personally?"

"Well, he and I have crossed paths a number of times in the past, and he was the one who gave me that painting you're looking at on the wall there." Moriarty replied as he turned and nodded at the painting.

He then turned to face Garfield as he continued, "We went a long way, back when he visited London before the Boer War when I was a wee lad. You should've seen him when he first met my father...he was quite lost and had trouble finding his way around London."

"He lodged at your London residence, Professor?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Moriarty nodded. "He was fresh and green, right out of university and was looking for adventure when he enlisted to serve in the Boer War."

"Ah, so he was shipped over to London like most troops from Canada were when the Boer War broke out in 1899." Garfield said.

"That's right." Moriarty nodded. "Except that once he got there, he was involved in a serious accident that left him unable to properly use his arms, and so he was medically discharged. He came upon my family home one night, not sure what to do as he had missed the last train to Plymoth, which is where the ferry to Halifax arrives at."

"Ah, I see." Garfield nodded. "So he lodged at your place, which was also the time that he managed to find work at the London and North Western Railway as a technician, eh?"

"That's right." Moriarty said. "During his wondering through the London streets at night, he lost his stuff to a pickpocket, and so he needed the money to get back home to Ottawa."

"And I suppose after his working at the BNWR, the rest is history as he raised through the ladder at work before returning to Canada after having had made enough money, eh?" Garfield asked.

"Exactly." Moriarty nodded. "It was also during this time that my father introduced him to his then-future wife Amanda, who was, at that time, accompanying her father when he meet with my family to discuss a business proposition."

"Ah, okay." Garfield nodded thoughtfully. "I'm assuming this is all after your family managed to shake off the scandal surrounding your granduncle's reputation, eh?"

"Yes." Moriarty nodded again. "My grandfather was estranged with Granduncle James long before all of this happened, and to put it this way, he was sort of relieved when we learned that he met his end fighting Sherlock Holmes at Reichenbach Falls."

"I see." Garfield said. "Anyways, you and Mr. Stevenson kept correspondence after he returned to Canada?"

"Yes." Moriarty replied. "In fact, he was the one who encouraged me to come here to Carleton University to teach."

"Ah, that's good to know." Garfield nodded.

He then glanced at his watch before adding, "Anyways, I should get going now, Professor. It's good to be hearing these stories from you."

"It's my pleasure, Mr. Wu." Moriarty nodded. "I suppose I'll be seeing you again on Friday's lecture."

"Yes, sir." Garfield nodded before tipping his flat cap and took his leave.

The professor watched Garfield leave his office as a suspicious look started forming on his face.

He then shrugged before pulling out a journal, put on his reading glasses and started reading it.

As he started reading, the scene starts to shift to an opened file drawer on his desk, where a stack of postcards are seen.

Upon closer look at the inside of the drawer, several postcards are shown more clearly, all showing the  _Girl with the Gazelle_ on their fronts.

* * *

**Please read and review!**


	4. Another bank robbery, at the scene, a tutorial and night time

Chapter 4: Another bank robbery, at the scene, a tutorial and night time

_October 1, 1971_

That morning, Garfield arrived at his Introduction to Engineering class at the usual time with the  _Ottawa Citizen_  in hand.

The first thing that caught his mind was the headline on the front page:

"MASSIVE OVERNIGHT BANK ROBBERY

Ottawa South branch of the Dominion Capital Bank raided overnight, tens of thousands estimated to have been lost"

"哇!" (Holy smoke!) Garfield thought to himself as he scanned the first few paragraphs of the article. "這是我們當初找到史蒂文森先生的遺傳的那家銀行!" (That's the bank where we've located Mr. Stevenson's will in the first place!)

As he read on, he noted that the police had no leads at the time being.

Shaking his head, Garfield put down the newspaper in time to see Professor Brent McMiller making his way into the lecture hall.

The professor was smoking his pipe as usual, and Garfield can't help but think about the possible repercussions the habit has on his lungs.

Like most students in attendance, Garfield was focused on the lecture, a focus that came to a stop when the class ended an hour later.

As usual, Garfield grabbed his stuff and got up from his seat and made his way to the main door to the lecture hall.

However, outside the lecture hall, he spotted a couple of police constables, who noticed him and walked towards him.

"Good day, constables." Garfield said in greeting as the two constables stopped in front of him. "How may I help you?"

"You're Garfield Wu, I presume?" The first constable asked.

"Yes I am." Garfield nodded. "Is there a problem?"

"No doubt you've read about last night's bank robbery, have you?" The second constable asked.

"Yes, yes, I have." Garfield nodded. "Has there been a development in the case?"

"Not exactly." The first constable shook his head. "However, Station Sergeant Lenny asked us to fetch you, as he believes that you can provide an input or two at the crime scene, like you have done in the past."

"Ah, I see." Garfield nodded. "I'm assuming he's at the Dominion Capital Bank in Ottawa South right now, right?"

"Yes, together with the investigators from the Herongate Division Station and forensics." The second constable said.

* * *

A short while later, Garfield met up with investigators and Lenny at the scene of the latest robbery.

"Sorry about asking you to come over here on such short notice, Mr. Wu." Lenny said.

"Ah, it's okay." Garfield waved his hand dismissively. "The lecture hall was a bit too warm for me anyways, so it's good to be out on the field for a change."

Lenny nodded as they made their way to the looted safe, where the lack of a huge mess is a clear indication that the robbery was a professional operation.

"This is clearly a professional operation." Garfield remarked. "Whoever did this knows exactly what they were doing."

"Yes." Inspector Larry Atkinson, the lead investigator to the case, nodded. "The robbers took their time in their heist and made the effort to not leave behind their fingerprints in the course of the operation."

"Hmmm..." Garfield thought for a while as he looked around. "Has forensics gone through the surfaces of the safe deposit boxes that were looted in last night's job, Inspector?"

"Yes, they have." Atkinson said. "And as I said earlier, no fingerprints were found there."

Garfield nodded thoughtfully as he continued to look around. "Do you think the deposit boxes that were looted could offer us a clue?"

"If you wanna take a closer look at the, Mr. Wu, be our guest." Atkinson shrugged. "However, I doubt you could find anything of significance, as forensics have combed through the area thoroughly and nothing has turned up in the search."

Garfield nodded again before leaning forward to take a closer look at the looted safe deposit boxes.

Several moments of silence went by uneventfully, and as Garfield used a magnifying glass to examine the surface of the individual safe deposit boxes, he was starting to wonder if Atkinson was right.

Most of the fingerprints on the surface were smurged, and he could barely tell if the prints were readable.

It took him almost half an hour to finish examining the surfaces of the individual safe deposit boxes, then he turned to Lenny and Atkinson and shook his head.

"I guess you were right, Inspector." He said. "I can't find anything of significance on the individual safe deposit boxes."

"Can't say I'm surprised." Atkinson shook his head. "Though it's not your fault, Mr. Wu. Those robbers knew exactly what they were doing and what they were after."

"Indeed." Garfield and Lenny both nodded. "Such a shame."

Just as Garfield thought of putting his magnifying glass away, a chance glance at one of the gaps between the safe groups led to his eyes catching something he thought was a result of his eyes playing tricks on him.

Blinking hardly, he closed his eyes briefly before staring at the gap in question, then he leaned forward to take a closer look as he held up his magnifying glass.

Lenny, Atkinson and the accompanying officers at the scene were considering their next move when Garfield called out, "Gentlemen, I believe I may have found something."

"Oh, is that right, Mr. Wu?" Lenny asked as they turned towards Garfield. "What is it?"

"Look right here." Garfield said as he pointed at the gap. "It's right here in the gap, right between safe deposit boxes 373 and 423."

The officers all took a closer look at the gap in question, some of them narrowing their eyes, and then they all saw it.

"Looks like a sheet of paper was jammed in this gap." One of the constables reported.

"In that case, perhaps we should get it out and see what it is." Lenny suggested.

"Exactly what I had in mind, Roger." Atkinson nodded.

Soon, a forensic technician arrived with a clip as he tries to retrieve the object that was lodged inside the gap between the two safe groups.

"Do you think whatever was lodged in the gap could lead us somewhere with the case, Larry?" Lenny asked.

"At this point, I'm willing to entertain any possible explanation offered, Roger." Atkinson replied just as the technician finished retrieving the object.

"Here we have it, gentlemen." The technician announced as he clipped the object and placed it on an evidence-holding tablet. "It's a postcard."

"A postcard?" Atkinson repeated. "From where?"

"It was blank and doesn't have a specific address on it." The technician says. "But the background on the postcard is that of a painting."

"Let me guess: It's  _The Girl with the Gazette_  by Jean-Baptiste Greuze." Garfield interjected with his arms folded.

"Exactly." The technician nodded.

Atkinson leaned forward to take a closer look at the postcard, then he nodded as he turned towards Garfield.

"Sharp eyes, Mr. Wu." Atkinson said. "Nobody could have noticed the postcard lodged in the gap in their screening of the safe deposit boxes."

"Not just anyone." Garfield waved a hand dismissively. "I missed it when I examined the safe deposit boxes in the first two, three screenings. Given the positioning of the postcard, it's natural that the forensic technicians missed it."

"But what does this postcard tell us?" The technician asked.

"I don't think this was an isolated bank robbery, gentlemen, if you all think about it." Lenny said.

"What do you mean, Roger?" Atkinson asked.

"What I meant is that if you all think about it, this past weekend, the Dominion Capital Bank branch in Peterborough was robbed and the only evidence they had was a postcard of  _The Girl with the Gazette_." Lenny said before gesturing at the postcard and continued, "And then, last night this bank branch was also robbed and the only evidence we've gathered so far is this postcard."

"That can't be a coincidence, can it?" Garfield asked.

"At this point, it's too early to rule anything else out." Atkinson said before shaking his head and added, "But given the nature of this armed robbery and the one that hit Peterborough this past weekend were similar in many ways, such as them being professional in nature and that the culprits didn't leave behind any fingerprints at the scene, I don't think it should take much for us to conclude that these robberies are related."

"Yes, though this only brings us more questions than answers." Lenny said. "Who did this and why?"

"And if this is really part of a string of bank robberies, where will the robbers strike next?" Atkinson asked.

"And when." Garfield added.

Everyone else nodded as they all stared at the postcard, not saying another word.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Garfield was at his calculus lecture seated with Kate and Robert.

As Professor Moriarty continued with his lecture and wrote down several problems and solutions on the blackboard, explaining the process as he did so, Garfield silently observed the professor.

Watching the professor writing items on a chalkboard and recalling the way he carries his briefcase and the location of his watch on his right wrist, Garfield noted that the professor is left-handed.

Even though there were no palm prints on any of the deposit boxes in the safe, as he figured that the culprits were smart enough to not leave behind any during the robbery, Garfield kept thinking about the postcard he found in the gap between the two groupings.

While the postcard, like the crime scene, didn't have any fingerprints, Garfield remembered that the postcard was slightly curved when the forensic technician pulled it out and that the painting side was faced towards the left and is right side up.

Upon recollecting that moment, Garfield remembered that the postcard was curved outwards towards the left with its cross-section in the rough form of a "(".

Through his flash vision, Garfield tried to replay the possibility of how the culprit stuffed the postcard into the narrow gap while taking part in the heist.

Then, he watched Professor Moriarty holding a sheet of paper with his right hand while writing on the blackboard with his left, and he narrowed his eyes as he looked closely at the form the paper is in.

Noting the rough ")" form of the paper, Garfield nodded to himself.

"昨天晚上搶銀行的其中一位搶劫犯是個左撇子的!" (One of the suspects of last night's bank robbery is left-handed!) He thought to himself.

* * *

After class, when he got home, first thing Garfield did was telephoning Flying Officer Lenny.

When Lenny answered, Garfield wasted no time explaining the conclusion he drew up during his calculus class on the suspects being left-handed.

"Brilliant deduction, Mr. Wu." Lenny nodded after the explanations. "The postcard itself has become a bigger clue pertaining to this case."

"Yes, though it doesn't necessary gives us a clue as to the motive of the robberies, sir." Garfield pointed out.

"Exactly." Lenny agreed. "However, you did mention earlier that Professor Moriarty is left-handed, did you not?"

"Yes, I did, sir." Garfield nodded. "And given his reputation and his namesake, it's not hard to figure out that he could be the prime suspect in the string of robberies."

"Right." Lenny said. "Of course, this should all come down once we figured if Professor Moriarty has an alibi for each of these robberies, not to mention that we don't know why exactly he would pull these jobs."

"Tell me about it, sir." Garfield nodded in agreement.

* * *

_October 6, 1971_

That early afternoon, Garfield sat at his calculus tutorial as the class TA, Marvin Bernier, goes through a series of questions for the tutorial.

Bernier, who's the senior teaching assistant for the class, is considered by many to be bright and Professor Moriarty himself considered him to be a protege.

Garfield enjoyed taking part in tutorials whenever Bernier was teaching, as he has excellent methods to help solve problems and is brilliant in articulating explanations.

The TA is also known for his sense of humour, and there hasn't been a tutorial he teaches in which the students didn't have a laugh.

As Bernier guides the class through how to do integration by parts, Garfield found himself observing the TA as he took notes.

Eventually, the class ended and Garfield found himself rushing to get to his next class, that one being his linear algebra lecture.

As he was about to get up from his seat, Garfield spotted Paul Prentice, another one of the TAs for the course, rushing into the classroom, where he headed straight for Bernier.

Garfield noticed Bernier, who in spite of writing on the chalkboard with his right hand during the tutorial, was actually writing with his left hand while writing on paper with a pen or pencil.

As Garfield looked on, he saw Bernier look up and saw Prentice rushing in.

"Hey Paul, what's up?" Bernier asked his fellow TA. "You looked like you've just rushed all the way here from the Athletics Centre."

"There's something I saw that I think you and the others should know about, Marv." Prentice replied. "Something important."

"What is it?" Bernier arched his eyebrows as he turned to face Prentice.

Garfield didn't hear the rest of the conversation after that, as he had already rushed out of the classroom, en route to his linear algebra lecture.

* * *

That night, Prentice was alone in his office, trying to finish marking the remaining tests for the class.

Earlier that day, upon returning from lunch, he was going through some files at the office when he made an alarming discovery.

While in search for a binder containing test solutions that noon, he ended up picking up a binder with contents that alarmed him.

Contents detailing the advanced planning of a series of bank robberies and how the culprit intended to get away with framing someone who unfortunately happened to be related to and was named after an infamous crime boss from turn-of the century London.

It was the alarming discovery that led to him rushing out of the office and head straight for Bernier, the head TA, and alert him on the discovery.

"Someone's been pulling those bank robberies and has been trying to pinpoint them on Professor Moriarty, Marv." He told Bernier not long after the class had cleared the room and they were back in the office with the other course TAs that afternoon. "Especially with the postcards of  _The Girl with the Gazette_  that are from his office."

"Uh oh." The class' sole female TA, whose name was Mayella Leitch, said. "That's not good at all."

"Not good indeed." He said. "However, I've got several deadlines to meet for my other courses, so will it be okay for you to..."

"Don't worry, Paul." Bernier reassured him. "I'll let the professor know about this, though how can you be sure it wasn't really him that pulled the robberies?"

"Good point." He nodded thoughtfully. "After all, he's not the only left-handed person in the world, though you should still let him know."

"Like I said, Paul." Bernier said. "I'll take care of this. Don't worry."

"Alright, then." He nodded again. "Thanks for the help."

"No prob, and thanks for letting us know." Bernier nodded.

As Prentice continued with his work, he didn't notice a shadowed figure entering the office with a wrench in hand.

Several minutes went by as the figure silently walked closer towards the unsuspecting Prentice, who continued marking the tests on his desk.

Just as Prentice finished marking the last test and placed it in a pile, he noticed a shadow from behind was looming over him, so he paused and turned to the back.

His eyes widened when he recognized the figure, and he gasped.

"I don't believe it!" He exclaimed.

That was the last thing he said before a scuffle came, with the scene cutting to a nearby wall where the two shadows scuffled.

It ended with first shadow striking the second shadow with the wrench, causing the latter to collapse onto the floor.

As the scene shifts back to Prentice's desk, a pool of blood can be seen growing larger.

* * *

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	5. A murder and in the office

Chapter 5: A murder and in the office

_October 7, 1971_

The next morning, Garfield arrived on campus for his Introduction to Engineering tutorial.

As he made his way to his tutorial classroom on campus, he noticed several police cruisers parked on the road leading to the main campus building.

Raising an eyebrow, he walked towards the main campus building and as he got closer to the entrance, he noticed several police constables chatting with other passerbys.

Reaching the main entrance, Garfield was about to head in when one of the police constables stepped in.

"Excuse me, mister." The constable said, and Garfield paused before turning around.

"Ah, is there a problem, Officer?" Garfield asked.

The officer paused as he recognized Garfield, then he approached him.

"Oh, Mr. Wu." The officer said when he recognized Garfield. "Didn't recognize you for a minute, but yes, I'm afraid there's something you might wanna check out in the building."

"What is it?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"A death in one of the TA's offices inside the building." The officer replied. "The victim was found inside the office just this morning."

"Inside one of the TA's offices?" Garfield asked.

"That's right." The officer nodded.

After the officer gave him the directions to the crime scene, Garfield wasted no time heading over.

Truth be told, the officer didn't need to provide directions to Garfield, as he later managed to find his way to the crime scene through the fact that there were more officers in the building, particularly in the area near the TA's offices.

As Garfield made his way to the TA's offices, the officers nearby moved out of his way as they recognized him.

Soon, Garfield arrived at the door leading into the TA's offices, which was already opened.

He then saw Inspector Atkinson inside the room, accompanied by several investigators and officers.

Atkinson was looking up when he saw Garfield at the doorway, and without a word, he quickly motioned him to enter.

"Mr. Wu." Atkinson said as Garfield made his way into the room.

"Inspector." Garfield nodded as he entered the room, where he was greeted by the sight of the crime scene.

Paul Prentice was slumped on the desk, clearly dead. Garfield also noticed several thick books had crashed down onto the body, all of which originated from the bookshelf board above the desk.

As he covered his mouth in shock, he looked around and saw Bernier and Leitch were also standing in the office room, both of them wearing looks of horror and disbelief.

"My word." Garfield finally said. "It's Paul Prentice, one of the three TAs in my calculus class."

"Yes, Mr. Bernier and Miss Leitch here confirmed the victim's identity not long after we arrived following their telephoning us upon making the discovery at 8:04." Atkinson nodded.

Garfield turned to Bernier and asked, "Marv, what happened?"

"Well, May and I were arriving to our office here as usual, and the door was locked like always." Bernier explained. "However, when we unlocked the door and entered, we found Paul slumped like this on his desk."

"We first assumed that he had fallen asleep while trying to catch up on marking those tests last night." Leitch added. "So we decided to try to shake him awake."

"Except that he didn't wake up at our shaking him by the shoulder, which was then that we noticed that his skin looked more pale than usual." Bernier continued.

"And then when we take a closer look at him and tried to feel for his pulse, that's when we noticed the...blood on his neck." Leitch continued.

Garfield then noticed the red stuff on her right hand, then he noticed the smearing of blood on Prentice's left shoulder.

"I...guess that explains the blood on your right hand." Garfield nodded at the smear of blood on Leitch's right hand.

"Um...yes, that's right." Leitch looked down at her right hand before nodding.

Garfield then turned and looked at the bookshelf above Prentice's desk, where he noted that the wooden board holding the books was tilted down due to a lack of support on the right side, and he noted that the screws linking the support on the left side was barely holding onto the wooden board.

"Hmmm..." He narrowed his eyes as he spotted the support that was supposed to be supporting the wooden board on the right side lying on the floor, then he looked at the fallen books, and then he turned to the officers and the forensic technicians. "What do you guys think?"

"At this point, it appears that the victim was killed as a result of heavy books falling off from the bookshelf above his desk." Atkinson's partner, Sergeant Rowan Ironside nodded at the body. "Given that there was a loose support on the right of the wooden board, which may have fallen off while Mr. Prentice was working away the night before."

"'May have', Sergeant?" Garfield raised an eyebrow as he turned to Ironside.

"If those heavy books did fall off the bookshelf while he was working away at the desk, then there's got to be a pool of blood on the desk, not to mention that the books would've been partially covered in blood." Ironside said.

"And there's no pool of blood anywhere on the desk whatsoever." Atkinson interjected before turning to the books that were removed from the desk and body and added, "Nor are any of the books that supposedly fell off the bookshelf above and slammed onto the victim's head covered in blood."

"Which could mean that the bookshelf support was tampered with and that Mr. Prentice was actually dead before whoever did this moved his body into this pose and staged the book fall in order to provide the cover that he was killed by books falling off a loose bookshelf." Garfield said.

"Exactly, Mr. Wu." Atkinson nodded. "Any other observations?"

"Well, I've been in this office several times before to pick up assignments, and the bookshelf looked pretty solid to me when I was last here, so that can certainly add to the fact that this crime scene was actually staged." Garfield pointed out.

"Right, then." Ironside nodded. "In that case, we better get to work and find the person that did this."

Everyone else present at the scene nodded, then Garfield turned towards the desk to take another closer look before the forensic technicians continued on with their work.

Just then, there was a commotion outside the room, and everyone paused as they listened to what sounded like two men arguing.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we can't allow you to enter the room." One of the voices said.

"I am aware of that room being a crime scene." The second voice, who Garfield and the TAs recognized as that of Professor Moriarty, retorted. "However, I have a responsibility to my teaching assistants, and given that this is the office of my TAs that is being blocked off, it is obvious that something must've happened to one of my assistants, and I need to see them right now!"

There was a sigh as Garfield turned to Atkinson.

"That's Professor James Moriarty, Jr. outside the room, Inspector." He said to Atkinson.

"No doubt he's here to come check on the TAs here." Atkinson nodded before the officers outside the room relented and let the professor into the room.

The moment the professor walked into the room, Garfield turned towards him.

"Professor." Garfield said as Moriarty entered the room.

"Mr. Wu." Moriarty nodded before seeing the officers and the other TAs and added, "Officers, Mr. Bernier and Ms. Leitch."

Moriarty then turned to get a closer look at Prentice, only for Inspector Atkinson to stop him.

"Professor, I'm afraid you can't touch the body just yet." Atkinson said as he gestured at the forensic technicians that were doing their work.

"Yeah, Professor." Bernier nodded. "Let the forensics do their job so we can figure out if you may have something to do with this."

"Me having something to do with this?" Moriarty gestured at himself before turning to Garfield and added, "So this is what all of this is about, eh, Mr. Wu? You really think I have something to do with Mr. Prentice's death?"

"Especially considering the fact that just yesterday, several hours before his untimely demise, Paul alerted me to the discovery of crucial evidence of someone in the university having a hand in planning those string of bank robberies in the past couple of weeks." Bernier said.

"Evidence?" Atkinson asked.

"That's right, Inspector." Bernier nodded. "Paul told me about this binder containing notes where ideas of committing bank robberies were scribbled down."

"Well, where's the binder?" Ironside asked.

"Don't know." Leitch shrugged and shook her head. "It was a thin blue three-ring binder, which was missing when we found Paul here this morning."

Garfield narrowed his eyes at the mentioning of the binder in question, and his mind flashed back to the time when he dropped by the TAs office to pick up his marked first test.

FLASHBACK - Three Days Ago

_October 4, 1971_

That afternoon, Garfield dropped by the TAs office to pick up his marked first test.

"Hey Garfield." Paul said in greeting when he entered the office.

"Hey Paul." Garfield nodded. "I'm here to pick up my first test."

"Of course." Paul nodded before turning to a nearby stack of papers and added, "The marked tests are all in this pile."

"Okay." Garfield said as he turned to the stack of papers and started flipping through them.

Another minute went by as Paul resumed marking papers for another course, and then Garfield found his marked test in the stack.

"Ah, found it." Garfield said as he took out the test paper and turned to Paul before adding, "Thanks, man."

"No problem." Paul nodded as he continued with his marking papers, and Garfield turned to put his test paper into the binder after giving it a brief look-through.

As he turned to leave the office, Garfield noticed the bookshelf above Paul's desk with the TA hard at work marking the papers.

He narrowed his eyes when he took note of the hinges for the bookshelf and the screws that bolted the wooden board to the hinges.

"那個書架看起來很堅固的。" (That bookshelf looks solid enough.) Garfield thought to himself. "但為了保險起見，波爾應該不要在那個書架上放太多東西的。" (But to be safe, Paul shouldn't put too much stuff on that bookshelf.)

He then walked back to Paul and said, "Uh..Paul?"

"Yeah?" Paul asked as he paused from his paper-marking and turned towards him.

"Do you think that the bookshelf above you is solid enough to support the weight of those binders and books?" Garfield asked as he gestured towards the bookshelf.

Paul looked up at the bookshelf above him, narrowed his eyes as he examined the hinges, then he turned to Garfield.

"The bookshelf looks pretty solid to me, but yeah, I don't plan on leaving too much of my stuff on the bookshelf." Paul nodded. "But thanks anyways."

"No problem." Garfield replied. "Last thing you need is ending up with a very sore hand as a result of several books slamming down onto you as a result of the loose hinges on the bookshelf, and then you'll be like 'You wouldn't believe what happened' when someone sees you wearing a cast on your arm or several bandages on your hands."

"Of course." Paul chuckled before resuming his work, and Garfield nodded as he made his way out.

END OF FLASHBACK

Garfield recalled seeing a thin blue binder on the bookshelf, and judging from the position of the leaflets at the other end of the binder, he figured that the binder in question has plenty of pages inside.

"The binder you guys are speaking of is normally on this bookshelf." Garfield said as he turned to the officers and the others, gesturing towards the collapsed bookshelf as he spoke.

"You sure, Mr. Wu?" Atkinson asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure." Garfield nodded. "I remember it clearly, as I was here three days ago to pick up a marked test."

"In that case, it is crucial that we find this binder if we want to have this one wrapped up." Ironside said.

"And you better come up with an explanation as to why you've confiscated it, Professor." Leitch added as she turned to the professor. "Because at this point-"

"Hey, you guys may wanna see this." One of the forensics technicians suddenly announced.

"What is it?" Garfield asked as he, Atkinson, Ironside and the two TAs arched their eyebrows.

The technician that interrupted Leitch's remark was flipping through one of the binders that landed on the desk, and then he found something that wasn't supposed to be in the binder.

It was something familiar to those attached to the investigations into the recent string of bank robberies.

"A postcard with the  _Girl With the Gazelle_." Garfield said. "Just like the ones we've found in the other crime scenes."

The officers then turned to Moriarty, who raised his hands.

"Don't look at me." The professor said. "I don't know anything about the postcards with the painting being left behind at the crime scenes."

"Now where have we heard that before?" One of the officers asked in response.

"Professor." Atkinson said as he turned to Moriarty. "Would you be kind enough to tell us if you know anything about the painting?"

"As well as tell us where were you on the following time and dates?" Ironside added as he pulled out a notebook.

"Outrageous!" Moriarty said angrily. "You really think I'll be involved in something like this? Surely not!"

"Then, I suggest that you cooperate with us for the sake of clearing your name, Professor." Atkinson advised.

Moriarty sucked in a breath with a frown, then he turned towards the two TAs and Garfield.

Bernier still had his arms folded, while Leitch had her hands on her hips. Both of them had frowns on their faces in the face of the professor being accused of something horrendous.

While Garfield also had his arms folded, his face expression remained neutral, not letting on the fact that he was thinking deeply.

Finally, the professor sighed and turned to the two investigators.

"Very well, then." He said. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

A short while later, the group were in Professor Moriarty's office as the two investigators sat in front of the professor asking their questions.

"So you are saying that this painting in this room is a replica of the original  _Girl with the Gazelle_ , Professor?" Ironside was asking.

"That is correct." Moriarty nodded. "It was a gift from a friend of mine who served with me in the Home Guard during the war. He was an art collector, and we were in the same platoon."

"What's the reason behind your service with the Home Guard?" Atkinson asked as he raised an eyebrow. "I take it that you're young and strong enough to join the Army during the war."

"Yes, I was." Moriarty nodded. "However, my allergies to gunpowder prohibits me from handling firearms of any kind."

"Firearms?" Ironside raised an eyebrow.

"Only after I fire shots, and then the rashes begin to form on my wrists and palms." Moriarty explained. "I can handle the weapons themselves, but I can't open fire."

"I see." Atkinson nodded understandingly. "But anyways, I hope you don't mind that we search your office, Professor."

"If this is what it takes to prove me innocent, then by all means, go ahead." Moriarty raised his hands.

Atkinson turned to Ironside and nodded, and the two investigators proceeded to search around the office as Garfield, Bernier and Leitch looked on.

During this time, the professor turned to Garfield and asked, "You've got any thoughts, Mr. Wu?"

"So far, the main question I have is besides you and the TAs, who else knew about this blue binder Paul alerted Marvin of, Professor?" Garfield frowned as he turned to the professor.

Moriarty turned to Bernier and Leitch, the two TAs then shrugged, then he turned back to Garfield and shook his head, "No one else, as far as we know."

"'We', Professor?" Bernier asked.

"What do you mean, Mr. Bernier?" Moriarty folded his arms.

"For all we know, Professor, maybe you're simply faking this to divert all suspicions away from you." Bernier snorted. "Whoever did all of this was smart and knew he was doing, just like your granduncle-"

"I'm nothing like my granduncle." Moriarty cut in before the TA could finish. "Maybe named after him, but I'm not his type in causing trouble."

"You are causing trouble by not admitting the truth early on, Professor." Leitch scoffed.

"Now come on, guys." Garfield stepped in and raised his arms in a calming gesture. "We still don't know what exactly happened back in the TAs office, and it wouldn't be of any help if you guys start pointing fingers at each other, accusing one another of obstructing the investigation."

"No offence, Garfield." Bernier said. "But that's easy for you to say when you're not the one who has to make decisions that could mean the end of another person's career."

"As well as when you're not related to someone with an infamous reputation." Leitch added.

Before Garfield could respond, the investigators pulled open a drawer and then Atkinson said, "As you were saying?"

"What is it?" Moriarty asked as they turned to the two investigators.

"You all may want to see this." Ironside said as he reached into the open drawer.

When Garfield, Bernier and Leitch looked in, they saw piles of postcards, each with the  _Girl with the Gazelle_  on one side.

In addition, as they did so, Ironside also managed to pull out a blue binder from the drawer.

"This looks familiar?" Ironside asked as he turned to the two TAs and Garfield, holding the binder as he spoke.

"Yes." Garfield said without any hesitation. "That's the missing blue binder I remember seeing on Paul's bookshelf three days ago."

The investigators then turned to Moriarty, who had his mouth opened in shock.

"I've...never seen this binder in here before." He stuttered. "I don't understand."

"Maybe a trip to the station will help you jog your memory, Professor." Atkinson folded his arms.

"No, I'm serious!" Moriarty said as his temper began to flare. "I don't understand how did this blue binder got here in my file cabinet."

"Coming from someone who's had selective memory loss lately." Leitch snorted.

"You've got any alibis for any of the times each of these robberies and the murder were committed, Professor?" Ironside asked.

"As I've told you gentlemen earlier, I was home alone late at night, except for the first robbery when I was alone in my hotel room in Peterborough." Moriarty said.

Ironside and Atkinson shared a look with each other, then they turned to Moriarty.

"I'm afraid that's not good enough, Professor." Atkinson said. "Stand up."

"But I didn't do anything." Moriarty protested as a police constable walked into his office with the handcuffs ready. "I-"

"Calm down and allow us to escort you to the station, Professor." Atkinson continued as the constable proceeded to handcuff the professor. "Until we sort out what exactly is going on with you, I'm afraid you'll need to be taken into custody for further questioning."

As the police moved to escort Moriarty out of the office, the professor turned his head back and his eyes settled onto Garfield.

Garfield simply stood his ground, his face not revealing any emotions or thoughts that was going through his mind as he watched his calculus professor being escorted out of his office by police.

Several moments went by before he and the two TAs were asked to vacate the offices, and as Garfield reluctantly returned to his day, he saw that there were several students and faculty members nearby who had witnessed the drama unfolding.

* * *

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	6. The murder weapon and the discussion

Chapter 6: The murder weapon and the discussion

The rest of the day went by as usual for Garfield, though after his Introduction to Engineering tutorial, he headed straight to the Riverside police station located near the headquarters of Canada Post.

The watch sergeant at the reception desk was typing up a report when Garfield arrived, and upon turning towards the front door and recognizing Garfield, he paused from his typing.

"Ah, good day, Mr. Wu." He said in greeting. "What can I do for you?"

"Good day, Sergeant Vickers." Garfield replied as he noted the nameplate on the sergeant's uniform. "I'm here to see Professor James Moriarty, Jr., who I understand is currently in custody here."

"Ah yes, he is in custody here." Vickers nodded. "I take it that you're following the developments in the recent spree of bank robberies and the related murder case, eh?"

"Yes, I am." Garfield nodded. "Now, I'm assuming that Inspector Atkinson and Sergeant Ironside are still interviewing the professor, right?"

"Yes." Vickers replied. "However, from what I've heard, the professor has continued to insist that he was framed and you can probably say that their interview has gone back to square one."

"Shouldn't be a surprise." Garfield nodded thoughtfully. "I guess I should go see for myself."

"You know the way to the interview rooms." Vickers nodded towards the inside of the station before resuming typing his report while Garfield made his way further into the station.

Garfield made his way through the main squadroom, passing by the Ottawa South District's Criminal Investigation Department bullpen where the investigators were busy at their desks working their cases.

He noticed the desks assigned to Inspector Atkinson and Sergeant Ironside were empty, which was a clear indication that the two investigators were still at the interview room.

Continuing on to the interview rooms, Garfield nodded as he walked by the district's chief superintendent.

"Mr. Wu." The chief superintendent nodded at him.

"Chief Superintendent Lambert." Garfield nodded back in acknowledgement.

A short while later, Garfield had reached the hallway leading to the interview rooms. As he rounded a corner, he walked by Station Sergeant Lenny, who was accompanied by a couple of constables.

"Mr. Wu." Lenny said as he saw him.

"Flying Officer Lenny, sir." Garfield nodded. "I take it that you've heard about the news."

"Yes, I did." Lenny nodded. "Quite the setup, isn't it?"

"Tell me about it, sir." Garfield agreed. "Which interview room are Inspector Atkinson, Sergeant Ironside and Professor Moriarty are at?"

"Room number 7." Lenny answered. "From what I've overheard, your professor has continued to insist that he was framed and had nothing to do with the recent crime spree."

"You don't believe his story, do you, sir?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"I don't see why I should when he doesn't have a solid alibi for each of those crimes." Lenny shrugged. "Though in the same time, we need to find the murder weapon that could actually tie him to the murder."

"Of course." Garfield shrugged back before they continued on with what they were doing.

Eventually, Garfield arrived at interview room number 7, where he made a note not to open the door and enter while Atkinson is still busy with the questioning.

Instead, he decided to observe the interview itself through the glass window on the door, looking on and listening carefully as Atkinson and Ironside continue to hammer Moriarty with questions.

Inside the room, it was becoming clear that the six hours of questioning in the room hasn't gone anywhere.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Moriarty didn't make any effort to hide his annoyance by the continuous questioning. "You gentlemen have been wasting the past six hours throwing every question at me regarding the murder while the real killer is still on the loose."

"We will, Mr. Moriarty." Atkinson leaned closer, his patience wearing thin as every minute passed. "As soon as you tell us what exactly was that blue binder doing in your office."

"As I told you gentlemen earlier, I have no idea how did the binder ended up in my office." Moriarty folded his arms. "While I do have the only key to my office, anyone with the right tools could've picked the door lock open and slipped the binder in my office."

Ironside rubbed his temples with his hand while Atkinson sighed, as the latest answer further reinforced the notion asserting that their investigation was not going anywhere even after hours of questioning their prime suspect.

The inspector then turned towards the door, where he saw Garfield standing on the other side observing.

Seeing Atkinson, Garfield nodded at him, and the inspector turned back to Moriarty.

"Just a minute." Atkinson said before getting up from his seat and made his way towards the door and opened it. "Mr. Wu."

"Inspector Atkinson." Garfield replied as the inspector stepped out of the room, closing it on his way out. "I take it that the professor isn't providing any straight answers pertaining to the case, eh?"

"No, he isn't." Atkinson shook his head. "But I digress, it has occurred to me that perhaps you've gotten some ideas on how to proceed with the case."

"I'm not surprised." Garfield said. "And well, as for ideas on how to proceed with the case, a couple of thoughts come to mind."

"I'm all ears." Atkinson said.

"First of all, besides the postcards of the  _Girl With the Gazelle_ left at each crime scene, is there any actual evidence that ties those robberies and the murder together, Inspector?" Garfield asked. "I'm sure there are connections in any way, though is there a good chance that we may be dealing with a copycat who's seeking to tie the murder with the robberies?"

"In the absence of concrete evidence tying the crimes together, besides the postcards of the  _Girl With the Gazelle_  left at each crime scene, for now we are treating the two groups of cases separately." Atkinson nodded. "We've got investigators who are solely focused on the robberies while Ironside and I are focused on the murder."

"Right then." Garfield continued. "And as for the second thought I've got in mind, for the sake of argument, let's just say that the professor's claims are true. In that case, is there someone in the professor's life who was rubbed off the wrong way by the professor and is responsible for committing those crimes and framing him in order to get even with him?"

"Valid points you've got, Mr. Wu." Atkinson nodded thoughtfully as they looked into the interview room and briefly stared at the professor.

As Garfield looked into the room, the professor looked up and made eye contact with him, causing him to look away almost immediately.

Noticing the look on Garfield's face, Atkinson turned to him.

"Do you really think the professor did it, Mr. Wu?" Atkinson asked.

"Well, so far, all the evidence we've got are pointing the finger of those horrid crimes to him." Garfield replied. "However, somehow my instincts are telling me that there's more to the robberies and murder than meets the eye."

"Point taken." Atkinson nodded. "In any way, where do you suggest we go from here, Mr. Wu?"

Garfield frowned as he thought for a minute, looked into the interview room towards where the professor is seated at, then turned towards Atkinson.

"I'd say for now, in addition to continuing our search for the murder weapon, we pour through the professor's finances to see if his claims on not having any involvement in the robberies are true." He suggested. "After all, if he were to actually get his hands on such huge amounts of money, there's got to be a trail that will suggest that he was earning more than what a professor can afford through his salary, in addition to see if his bank accounts have deposits that don't add up."

"Sounds like a reasonable idea." Atkinson nodded thoughtfully. "Though I highly doubt the professor's going to be happy to hear this."

"For his sake, let's hope that there's nothing out of the ordinary in his bank accounts." Garfield remarked as he turned towards the professor seated in the interview room with Sergeant Ironside.

* * *

After visiting the Riverside station, Garfield dropped by home to have lunch before heading back to the university for his afternoon Intro to Engineering lecture.

As he made his way to the lecture hall, he happened upon a couple more investigators and several constables who were at the main campus building.

One of the investigators happened to turned towards Garfield and paused.

"Ah, Mr. Wu." The first investigator said, and the other investigator and the constables turned their attention towards Garfield.

"Sergeant Douglas." Garfield nodded. "What's going on?"

"You will be pleased to know that we had located the murder weapon in the professor's office." Douglas replied as he held up the evidence bag containing the weapon.

Garfield leaned forward to get a closer look at the weapon as he squinted his eyes. Inside the bag was a metal water pipe with what appeared to be dark blood stains on it.

"Holy cow." He remarked.

"Exactly." Douglas' partner agreed. "Forensics found the weapon during a sweep through Professor Moriarty's office, where they noticed a bookshelf was covering a hole in the wall near the main office door."

"And the hole in the wall is where the weapon was located, eh, Constable McGuinty?" Garfield nodded at the evidence bag as he spoke.

"That's right." McGuinty nodded. "The pipe was neatly placed and connected to the neighbouring pipes in the wall just neatly, and the bookshelf itself provides a good cover to the hole."

"And what prompted forensics to search behind the bookshelf?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

Douglas turned towards McGuinty before he turned back towards Garfield and said, "I'll show you, Mr. Wu."

* * *

A short while later, Garfield was back in the professor's office where Douglas wasted no time pinpointing the reason behind forensics' decision to look through the bookshelf during the investigation.

"If you take a good look at this end of the bookshelf, you'll notice a small crack in the paint on the wall, Mr. Wu." The forensic technician said as he pointed at the crack in question.

Donning a pair of plastic gloves, Garfield carefully examined the wall with one hand holding a magnifying glass, then he stopped when he noticed the crack.

"Ah, I see it." Garfield exclaimed. "In addition to some plaster dust on the bookshelf here that would suggest that the bookshelf is exposed to a wall that was recently disturbed."

"Exactly." Douglas nodded. "University maintenance told us that the professors in the offices of this floor were given notice that the walls facing the hallway were going to need to be cleared so they can do some water pipe replacement work after they've identified faulty water pipes."

"So Professor Moriarty had to move this bookshelf away from the wall in order for maintenance to do the work?" Garfield offered.

"That's right." Douglas replied. "The maintenance work begun two weeks ago, so the bookshelf wouldn't be even on this wall here in the first place."

"Were the maintenance workers able to remember whether or not the bookshelf was at the wall the day before?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"When they finished work for the night, the head worker told us that the bookshelf was still at the sidewall as they had found it." Douglas nodded.

"Which means its safe to say that whoever moved the bookshelf back to its original spot did it in order to conceal the hole in the wall in which he or she obtained the murder weapon." Garfield surmised.

"That sums things up pretty much, Mr. Wu." Douglas nodded as he nodded towards the office door. "Anyways, Senior Constable McGuinty and I were on our way to the crime lab to have the water pipe examined for DNA and fingerprints."

"Hopefully, that will yield the results we needed in order to crack this case." Garfield nodded as he followed the sergeant out of the office. "And maybe clear the professor's name in the process, that is, if he's really innocent."

"We'll see about that once we get the results from the lab." Douglas replied.

* * *

Later that late afternoon, after finishing his class, Garfield wasted no time heading straight home for dinner, changed into his uniform and was then on his way to Uplands.

As usual, he got onto the Route 4 streetcar to get to Billings Bridge and then he had to march across the shopping mall to transfer onto the new CN Rail-operated airport express train that links Ottawa Union Station directly to Uplands Airport.

He could've taken the Route 82 bus that frequents the airport and Gloucester South, but Garfield felt that the walk from the train terminal at the airport to the air force base takes a shorter time than walking from the 82 bus stop to the base.

Anyways, as Garfield marched his way through the shopping mall to the train station, he walked past a certain salesperson wearing an Ogilvy's uniform blouse taking a break and sipping a coffee in the food court.

The Ogilvy's salesperson in question happened to be looking towards Garfield and recognized him.

"Well, will you look at that." The salesperson remarked, and Garfield paused and turned when he recognized the voice, finding himself face-to-face with Rona Ewell. "It's Garfield Wu, that show off from Glebe."

"You sure haven't changed at all, Ronalee." Garfield replied evenly. "How's the sister and family doing?"

"Doing as well as we could, considering what you did to us three years ago." Rona replied as she placed her hands on her hips. "Thanks to you, I'm stuck with this lousy job while Kellie is currently working overtime at Eaton's."

"What can I say?" Garfield shrugged. "The Superior Court ruled in favour of the other relatives in light of the uncovering of Bruce Stevenson's new will in the court challenge your mother decided to launch, and how would've I know that the legal bills will end up swallowing up all of what Bruce Stevenson left to you guys?"

**(For more information on the Stevenson case, please read _D4 Garfield and the Secret of the School Library!_ )**

"Whatever." Rona shrugged back. "So how are you doing lately? I'd bet you're still showing off like you always do in back in Glebe."

"I don't have time for 'showing off' now that I'm studying civil engineering at Carleton." Garfield replied. "And don't forget, when I made a lot of friends here and there, it's because I've treated everyone with respect. If you really want to be popular like me, then you need to treat everyone with respect in order to earn it."

Eying Garfield checking his watch, Rona then said, "Well, I suppose you better be off or you'll be late for your whatever event you're attending."

Garfield simply grunted before waving a hand. "Take care of yourself."

Without another word, he then continued on through the food court and made his way to the train station.

* * *

A short while later, Garfield was going through his usual routine for the training night, among which included him meeting with officers and off-duty senior cadets (Who were not teaching or instructing classes), in addition to consulting with the duty corporals.

His younger brother Dave, who got his pilot wings this past summer and is now a Flight Sergeant, is currently instructing a Level 3 class on the basics of aircraft engines, a topic that was of his expertise due to him having had taking an aircraft maintenance course during summer training a couple summers back.

Garfield and a couple of WO2s happened by the barracks where the Level 3 class is held, and they looked on as the corporals inside were diligently taking notes while Dave was explaining the workings of a piston engine.

A few minutes later, Garfield was in the main barrack and was going through his to-do list when Flying Officer Lenny walked by him.

"Mr. Wu." Lenny said in greeting.

"Flying Officer Lenny." Garfield nodded as he stiffened and raised his right hand to salute.

After the salute, Garfield then continued, "How's your evening?"

"It's going well, Mr. Wu." Lenny replied. "I take it that you're interested in the latest updates in the Moriarty Case, are you?"

"I am, sir." Garfield nodded. "I understand that Sergeant Douglas and Constable McGuinty have recovered the murder weapon in the professor's office and has taken it to headquarters for testing."

"Yes." Lenny nodded. "From what I've gathered, it's a guarantee that the blood on the pipe is that of the victims."

"I figured." Garfield said. "That being said, has there been any progress with the fingerprints?"

"Not yet." Lenny shook his head. "It might be a couple of days before we know more about the items on the pipe."

"Right, then." Garfield nodded thoughtfully. "In the meantime, have you been able to tell me what the team has gathered so far in their investigations in the professor's financial records and bank accounts?"

"Not much." Lenny replied. "Though from what I've heard, Inspector Atkinson has a number of transactions of interest that he and his team will be digging into first thing tomorrow."

"Alright, then." Garfield said. "The sooner we find out who did all of that, the better."

"Yes, especially since we're getting close to the 24-hour mark in crime scene investigations." Lenny added.

"Of course." Garfield nodded. "I take it that the professor's office is going to remain sealed off to the public in the duration of the case?"

"Yes." Lenny nodded. "Until we found something that cracks the case, the two offices remains as our crime scenes and that they will remain off-limits to the public."

"When you said 'two offices', you mean that one of them is the TAs office where the victim was found this morning, eh?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"Of course." Lenny nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"Is it the entire office sealed off, or is it just the desk and surrounding area where the victim was found?" Garfield pressed.

"To my knowledge, it was only the desk and surrounding area that remains off-limits to the public." Lenny replied. "Why?"

"Oh, I was just wondering, sir." Garfield shrugged. "Though I got a feeling that the desk and the close surrounding area around it may not be just the crime scene."

"What do you mean by that, Mr. Wu?" It was Lenny's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Do you suppose that Mr. Prentice wasn't killed right away at his desk, but rather was engaged in a struggle that spilled into the rest of the office before he was given the fatal blow to the back of his head?" Garfield asked.

There was some silence between the two men, then Lenny nodded thoughtfully.

"You know, there is a good chance that the killer may still have access to the remaining opened area of the TAs office and potentially spoil the crime scene." Lenny said.

"Then, we'd better go make the call and make sure that the entire office remains off-limits." Garfield urged.

* * *

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	7. Another examination and the final calculus problem

Chapter 7: Another examination and the final calculus problem

_October 8, 1971_

The next morning, the first thing Garfield did before heading for his morning Introduction to Engineering lecture was dropping by the TAs office that has been completely sealed off for the time being.

As he arrived at the crime scene, he was greeted by a couple of uniformed constables guarding the entrance door.

The first constable, upon seeing Garfield approaching, turned in towards the office and said something to the occupants inside.

Then, a few seconds later, Inspector Atkinson stepped out of the office and nodded as Garfield approached them.

"Morning, Mr. Wu." Atkinson said in greeting. "We got your message last night and to tell you the truth, I was annoyed by the lapse in the communication early on. We meant for the  _entire_ office to be sealed off as a crime scene, but someone thought that only the victim's desk was to be sealed off and had the chief inspector signing off on the order to do so."

"I suppose Professional Standards has opened a file into the lapse in communication, Inspector?" Garfield asked as he was led into the office.

"Yes." Atkinson nodded. "The rest of the crime scene may have remained open to the other TAs for less than a full day, but even twelve hours of the rest of the office being left open is enough to provide the culprit or someone else, like the janitors, in spoiling the crime scene."

"Right, right." Garfield nodded and frowned. "Although the cleaning staff wasn't scheduled to give the office a full sweep and mop yesterday, which means we can pretty much eliminate them from the equation."

"Yes, which then leaves us back to the culprit of the Thursday murder." Atkinson frowned.

"And speaking of which, how did it go on the search warrant for Professor Moriarty's financial and banking records yesterday?" Garfield asked.

"We were able to obtain the professor's banking records that goes back to the year he started his residency here in Canada." Atkinson replied. "Constable McGuinty and Sergeant Douglas are pouring through the records while awaiting for the forensic testing of the murder weapon as we speak."

"Right, then." Garfield nodded. "Any word on when the autopsy on the victim would be completed?"

"The report should be ready by mid-afternoon today." Atkinson said.

Garfield nodded again as he and Atkinson entered the office, where Ironside was frowning.

"We really should've kept at this yesterday morning when the vic's body was discovered here." Ironside said.

"I know." Atkinson grumbled in agreement. "Nothing we can do about that end now that there's the possibility that the killer has took advantage in the lapse in communication and moved to clean things up here so we won't be able to find more clues here."

"And we all know that the chances of us finding the killer and cracking this case diminishes within the first forty eight hours." Ironside added. "We've already lost twenty four hours here."

"Indeed." Garfield narrowed his eyes as he snapped on a pair of rubber gloves and looked around. "But anyways, what do you suppose we're looking for here, other than the signs of a struggle which I'm certain you guys have already photographed and documented?"

"Signs that pinpoint the actual location when the victim was killed." Atkinson said. "Which we all know wasn't at the desk."

"Exactly, and I know just the thing that can help us." Ironside said before nodding at the windows.

Knowing what his partner was thinking, Ironside, who's closer to the windows out of the trio, moved to lower the shades while Garfield quickly closed the door and turned off the lights.

After some adjustments to the curtains, Atkinson turned to Garfield and Ironside and said, "This is the best we can get."

"Right." Ironside nodded as he pulled out a flashlight from his crime scene kit and started scanning the entire office.

Garfield and Atkinson both followed suit and started looking around the office closely, hoping to find what they missed in yesterday morning's investigation.

The flashlights the trio were holding emit a certain bright purple ray, which also indicates that they lights are, in fact, emitting UV rays.

Scanning the victim's desk, the trio noted that there was a trail, likely blood that was wiped off, leading to the chair, and they can all see signs of blood splatter on the chair.

"Clearly, the blood trail indicates that the victim was dragged to his desk post-mortem." Ironside said.

"Yes, and I believe I just found where the trail came from." Garfield added as his UV flashlight shines at the table.

The two investigators paused and looked towards where his UV flashlight was shining at. It appeared to be a large puddle of blood, and the UV light also shined onto part of the blood trail that lead back to the victim's desk.

"Well, wouldn't you know it." Atkinson remarked as they all looked at the large puddle. "This is where the victim was struck and killed."

"Before the killer decided to move the body back to his desk and damaged the book shelf above him to make it look like heavy books fell onto him and fatally struck him in the head late at night while alone in the office." Ironside added.

"And judging from the marks we see here through the UV light, you can also see signs of a struggle." Garfield pointed out as he gestured at the marks before noting some light dents in the floor and added, "In addition to the dents here that could suggest that the chair was knocked over, perhaps by the victim as he was working at the desk, then heard something and paused and turned and saw his killer, which then led to the scuffle that also saw the victim knocking over his chair as he managed to stop his killer from striking the initial blow."

"Sounds like a solid theory, Mr. Wu" Atkinson nodded thoughtfully.

"You mentioned that this office is in use by the TAs from the Math Department, eh, Mr. Wu?" Ironside asked as he turned to Garfield.

"Yes." Garfield nodded. "Now, the TAs are the only ones with keys to the doors of this office with backups in both the professor's office and the campus security office and that the office is only used by the TAs for the first year calculus for engineers and scientists course."

"And campus security had reported that none of the keys to this office door were missing at the time of Mr. Prentice's death." Atkinson interjected.

"Which means Mr. Prentice knew his killer." Ironside nodded.

"And that begs the question." Garfield nodded. "Who?"

The trio then shared looks with each other after Garfield made the remark.

* * *

A short while later, once Garfield finished his classes for the day, he made his way home in the fading autumn sunlight.

The autumn breeze almost knocked the flat cap off his head as he waited at the red light to cross Bronson Avenue.

Holding his cap, Garfield instinctively made his way across the major roadway when the light turned green, and as he made his way into Brewer Park, a patrol car that was making its way out of the parking lot made a U-turn.

Noticing the patrol car, Garfield raised an eyebrow as the car stopped beside him and the constable behind the wheel rolled the window down.

"Mr. Wu." The constable said.

"Afternoon, Constable McGuire." Garfield nodded. "Nice day outside, isn't it?"

"Tell me about it." McGuire nodded back. "Anyways, Inspector Atkinson has asked for us to find you and let you know that they're down at the medical examiner's office for the final phases of the autopsy in the Moriarty case."

"Oh, yes." Garfield's eyes lightened. "Inspector Atkinson did tell me earlier that the autopsy was supposed to be completed earlier this afternoon. I take it that there were results worth taking note of, eh?"

"Yes, the type that I'm certain should help solve the case." McGuire replied. "Sergeant Ironside, who asked me to go fetch you, is waiting at the front lobby and will join the inspector once you get there."

"Right, then." Garfield nodded as the constable unlocked the front passenger door.

* * *

It didn't take long for Garfield to stroll his way through the main entrance door to the medical examiner's office after thanking Constable McGuire, where Sergeant Ironside greeted him at the main lobby.

"The inspector's in the main autopsy suite." Ironside said in greeting as he led the way.

Garfield nodded as he followed the sergeant into the main autopsy suite, both of them grabbing a mask on their way into the suite, where they were then greeted by the medical examiner and Atkinson.

"You're just in time for Dr. Abrams to present her findings on her autopsy of the victim, Mr. Wu." Atkinson said in greeting.

Garfield nodded as he turned towards Dr. Sandra Abrams, the medical examiner who he knew has five years of experience under her belt and had met with during a few cases he had assisted the police in investigating in the past.

"Dr. Abrams' initial estimate of the victim's time of death was correct." Atkinson said as Garfield on the face mask.

"By the time he was found, he was already dead for ten hours." Garfield nodded.

"Exactly." Dr. Abrams nodded back. "And the cause of death, as you all know, was from a blunt force strike in the head."

"Which knocked him unconscious and led to him bleeding out, eh?" Garfield asked Dr. Abrams.

"That is correct." The medical examiner nodded as she moved to the victim's head and pointed at a wound as she continued, "However, if you're thinking that the victim was struck in the head by a pipe, then you'll be surprised to know that the killer used something slightly more rectangular in size to strike him, based on the shape of the wound and the angle of entry we've got here."

Garfield, Atkinson and Ironside all followed Dr. Abrams' lead as they took closer looks at the wound, and noting the shape of it, the trio all nodded thoughtfully.

"So it can't be the water pipe that Sergeant Douglas and Constable McGuinty found that was the murder weapon." Garfield remarked.

"As a matter a fact, it's not." Ironside shook his head. "While you were in class, Douglas had informed me that after testing in the forensics lab, the 'blood' on the pipe turned out to be rust."

"So much for the discovery of the murder weapon." Garfield said before turning to the medical examiner and added, "Anything else, Doctor?"

"Yes." Dr. Abrams nodded as she continued to point at the wound. "If you gentlemen look closely, you'll notice some dark-coloured pieces along the outer edges of the wound here, pieces that I've taken the liberty of scraping off the victim's wound and place it in this evidence bag."

"Pieces?" Ironside arched his eyebrows as the medical examiner held up the evidence bag, which contained the dark-coloured pieces she managed to scrape off the wound during her examination of the victim.

"That's right." Dr. Abrams replied. "Now, I'm sure you gentlemen would be taking this to the laboratory to have the pieces examined."

"And thus pinpoint us to the murder weapon." Garfield pointed out.

"Exactly." Dr. Abrams nodded before moving on to the victim's torso. "Moving on, here on the victim's arms, you'll notice several light bruises, particularly in the areas closer to the wrists."

"Bruising consistent with the fact that the victim was engaged in a scuffle shortly before he was killed." Atkinson interjected.

"That's correct." Dr. Abrams said before pointing at the victim's chest and added, "In addition, you can see some bruising up on the victim's chest, though it was not caused by the scuffle."

"Not from the scuffle?" Ironside asked.

"No." Dr. Abrams shook her head. "Upon conducting a thorough examination of the victim's rib cage, I observed a number of cracked ribs located directly underneath the skin where the bruise is located at."

"And you think the force that caused the cracked ribs came from something else, Doctor?" Atkinson asked.

"Yes, something like a kick in the ribs." Abrams replied. "And if one was wearing steel toes, heavy ones to be exact, then you can do quite the damage with a single kick in the ribs."

"Steel toes..." Garfield nodded thoughtfully.

"Exactly." Dr. Abrams nodded before picking up her clipboard, flipped through the pages and then added, "In addition, based on the angle of entry of the strike wound that killed the victim, I was able to establish a range of the heights of his killer."

"Height?" Ironside raised an eyebrow.

"There's no way someone tall would try to crouch down and strike the victim in the head like this." Dr. Abrams explained as she pointed at the wound. "First off, if your killer crouched down and struck him in the head during the scuffle, then the blow wouldn't be effective enough to knock him unconscious."

"Mr. Prentice was knocked unconscious before bleeding out." Ironside interjected.

"That's right." Dr. Abrams nodded. "The killer had to be laying straight in full height when he or she made the fatal blow to the head to the victim during the scuffle."

"Though how is it that the killer was able to have the strength to drag Mr. Prentice's body to his desk and prop him up as if he was killed while seated at his desk?" Garfield frowned. "I know that Mr. Prentice had worked out frequently at the gym, so it would've been difficult for the killer to take him down at once, much less drag his body and prop it up at his desk following the scuffle."

"Which could mean that the killer had an acquaintance." Atkinson said. "Someone who assisted in cleaning up the blood, dragged the victim to his desk and prop him up on the chair and sabotaged the bookshelf above him to make it look like the heavy books on it fell onto him when he was at his desk."

"That's what I thought." Garfield nodded. "There's definitely someone else involved in this mess."

"And what of the possible range of heights of the killer you were able to provide an estimate of, Doctor?" Ironside asked as they all turned back towards the medical examiner.

"Oh yes, as I was saying." Abrams nodded as she flipped a page on her clipboard. "Based on the angle of entry to the strike wound on the victim's head, I was able to estimate that the killer had to be no shorter than 5'8" and no taller than 5'11"."

The trio all took a look at the corresponding pages from the autopsy report the inspector was holding, and they all nodded thoughtfully.

"Well, then." Atkinson finally said. "We better get moving now if we want to catch the killers, gentlemen."

* * *

After thanking Dr. Abrams and taking their leaves, the trio wasted no time making their way back to the Riverside station.

Along the way, the trio dropped by the lab to have the pieces in the evidence bag examined by the technicians.

After that, on their return back to the station, the trio went through the medical examiner's report and digested the information presented to them.

Unfortunately, the lack of witnesses, the fact that the water pipe they found was not the murder weapon and that the killer had an accomplice made it no closer to help them solve the case.

Upon returning to the station, the trio updated McGuinty and Douglas about the medical examiner's findings and mentioned the pieces the doctor managed to scrape off the victim's wound.

"Well, then." McGuinty remarked after the recount. "Are you guys willing to bet what those pieces on the victim's head wound were?"

"I'm certain that they were metal." Garfield offered. "Perhaps steel from the actual murder weapon, which based on the dimensions of the wound on the victim's head, are likely to be that of a wrench."

"You may be right, Mr. Wu." Ironside nodded thoughtfully.

"Anything from the professor's bank accounts and financial records?" Atkinson turned to Douglas and McGuinty.

"Well, after obtaining the records through a court order, it's safe to say that other than the usual deposits from his monthly salaries and the occasional bank withdrawal for some expenses here and there, nothing special or out of the ordinary." McGuinty shook his head as he and Douglas placed the records on the desk.

"Considering the professor's lack of an alibi during those robberies, you would wonder if he's been depositing more money than he usually makes as a professor." Ironside frowned as he folded his arms.

"And when you add in the fact that the killer had an accomplice into the mix, the timing can't get any worse when we only have more questions than answers." Atkinson added.

Garfield drew in a breath as he glared at the files on the desk, his eyes darting around in a bid to see if he can help connect the pieces.

However, his efforts weren't bearing any fruit and he sighed before glancing over to the nearby clock.

"You calling it a day, Mr. Wu?" Atkinson asked when he noticed Garfield glancing at the clock.

"Uh...yes." Garfield nodded, though reluctantly. "It's getting late now and there's a calculus assignment that I've yet to begin and from what my friends had told me, I'm not going to have enough time if I spend the entire weekend working on it."

"Dang." Ironside remarked. "When's the assignment due?"

"Next Wednesday, though considering my packed schedules on Mondays and Tuesdays, I'm not going to have enough time to work on the assignment." Garfield responded.

"Well, in that case, go home and take it easy, Mr. Wu." Atkinson said as Garfield stood up and grabbed his cap. "With your calculus assignment, the last thing we need is you stressing yourself out as a result of trying to go through the puzzles of the case."

"And good luck getting the assignment finished." McGuinty added. "I'm sure you're gonna need it as much as you need proper rest."

"Thanks for the words, and sure thing." Garfield nodded as he made his way out of the station. "I'll keep in touch."

"If we need anything from you, we'll let Lenny know." Ironside added.

"Of course." Garfield nodded as he raised a hand. "Evening, gentlemen."

"Evening." The four investigators all responded.

* * *

_October 9, 1971_

Garfield's weekend was mainly occupied by the time he spent at the Carleton University library working on his calculus assignment, in addition to him spending Saturday morning checking on the cadets doing fundraising for the wing.

In spite of those two activities mainly occupying his time, Garfield couldn't stop thinking about the case.

As he made his way through the assignment, several details of the case came swirling into the back of his mind.

Paul Prentice was ambushed by his killer while staying in the office late on the night of the 6th, and from what Garfield had read in the medical examiner's report, in his last moments before engaging in the struggle and ended up getting knocked out cold and bled out, Paul experienced a sudden surge in adrenaline with signs that he was shocked by the sight of something or someone.

 _或許是殺他的兇手嚇到他的。(Maybe he was shocked by his killer.)_ Garfield surmised to himself as he moved to the final calculus problem in the assignment.

Paul was then engaged in the struggle upon seeing his killer armed with the wrench, though his killer somehow managed to gain the upper hand and knocked him out cold.

Knowing that Paul regularly works out at the gym, there's no way someone of an average body build, no less a professor in his late-50s, could have knocked him out with the wretch during the scuffle.

 _Not unless..._ Garfield thought to himself before something clicked in his mind.

**FLASH VISION - Three Days Ago**

Garfield found himself standing in the shadows of the office that fateful night as he watched Prentice sitting at his desk working on grading some tests.

The look on his face tensed as he saw the killer sneaking into the office with a wrench in hand, and Prentice was still busy with his work grading the tests.

Eventually, Prentice paused and turned around, only for his eyes to widen and he gasped as he recognized the killer, who is holding the wretch and is about to strike.

The TA managed to duck down, knocking over his chair in the process, before he stood up and confronted the killer.

As the two engaged in the scuffle, during which the killer dropped the would-be-weapon, Garfield paused his flash vision.

**END FLASH VISION**

Garfield recalled seeing more dents on the floor through the UV light earlier that morning while he, Ironside and Atkinson searched through the office one more time.

He remembered the dimensions of the wound size caused by the wrench on the victim's head through the autopsy report, dimensions which he recalled fits the typical size of a wrench used for 1" bolts.

However, the dents he saw through the UV light in the office that morning were much wider than the handle of the wrench.

He knew that the dents in question were also recent and appeared to be as old as the ones caused by the chair but are too wide to be from a chair leg.

It was then that he realized that the dents were more circular, like fitting the edge of a...water pipe.

At that realization, Garfield snapped his fingers as his mind travelled back to the time of the murder.

**FLASH VISION - Three Days Ago**

Once again, Garfield found himself standing in the shadows of the office and watching over the sequence of events that led to Prentice's death.

As in before, the killer was still holding a weapon of sorts, though the killer was in fact holding a water pipe.

Prentice saw the killer and ducked down as he knocked his chair over in the process, then he got up to confront the killer.

Engaging in the scuffle, the killer dropped the water pipe, resulting in the round-edge dent Garfield remembered seeing earlier.

When it became clear that the killer was going to get overpowered by Prentice, Garfield then saw a second person entering the fray with a wrench in hand.

The second person, obviously the killer's accomplice, struck Prentice right in the head hard, causing the TA to get stunned by the hit and fell unconscious.

The first killer then pushed Prentice away, got up to catch his breath and gave the unconscious TA a kick in the ribs.

Upon staging the crime scene, the two killers then took their leaves, during which Garfield saw that one of them is wearing a heavy set of steel toes.

**END FLASH VISION**

Garfield looked down at his assignment, where he saw that he had written down his thoughts on the case onto the space meant for the solution to the final problem on the assignment sheet.

Knowing that his thoughts can't wait, he stood up, grabbed his assignment sheet, binders and other belongings and promptly made his way out of the library.

When he reached the front desk, he asked the clerk to borrow the desk phone.

* * *

**Please read and review!**


	8. The alibis and the scheme unravels

Chapter 8: The alibis and the scheme unravels

A short while later, Garfield was in the station with the four investigators, where he showed them the assignment paper of which he had wrote his thoughts on the case onto and explained what exactly went through his mind earlier when he was working on that final problem on the assignment.

"It's a good thing that you weren't the only one who had thought of all of that, Mr. Wu." Douglas nodded after Garfield related the thoughts in his mind to the four investigators. "As a matter a fact, while the water pipe found in the professor's office only had rust and that the fingerprints on the surface were smurged, the lab techs did manage to find four fingerprints on the inside of the pipe itself."

"I'm assuming there's a reason why you guys decided to withhold that detail when you initially reported that the only thing the lab found was the rust on the pipe." Garfield interjected.

"That's right." Atkinson nodded. "Sergeant Douglas and Constable McGuinty had reasons to believe that a few of our own are involved in the robberies, and they couldn't risk compromising the information while en route to the station."

"When Professional Standards launched their investigation into the lapse of communication regarding the crime scene at the TAs office two days ago, their attention was soon drawn to one of the constables responsible for the reporting having had acquired a spending habit that can't be supported on a constable's salary recently." Ironside said.

"And the constable in question wasn't holding a second job." Garfield offered.

"That's right." McGuinty nodded. "You see, the Dominion Capital Bank wasn't actually robbed on the 1st as it turns out. The robbers somehow managed to make the heist and get away with the money two days earlier with management only finding out two nights later."

"The constable under investigation frequently patrolled the neighbourhood in which the bank is located at, and during the hours of the heist, he was supposed to be patrolling his beat as usual with witnesses pinpointing his location as being within the vicinity of the bank in the timeframe of the actual heist on the night of the 28th." Atkinson continued. "However, he strangely went off the map during the key hours of that heist and said that he had to use a public washroom nearby when pressed."

"And then two days later, he was the first to arrive at the scene of the recent robbery at the Dominion Capital Bank when the alarm was finally raised concerning the missing money and assets at the bank." Douglas added.

"Which raised plenty of eyebrows." Garfield interjected.

"Only because the constable's beat partner, who had came down with the flu and was on sick leave in the past week, didn't back up his partner's story on him using the washroom during the time of the heist at the Dominion Capital Bank." Ironside said. "In fact, on the night of the 28th, Constable Fraser, who was already feeling under the weather that night, returned to the station and reported to his peers and the night watch sergeant that Constable Harper was MIA when they were in the vicinity of the bank."

"Fraser didn't had the chance to set the record straight that night?" Garfield asked.

"You know him, Mr. Wu." McGuinty said. "He was my training officer when I finished the training at the police college and is tough as nails. He always insisted to continue with his duties through the common cold and other ills, and that particular night, before he could go further, Fraser unexpectedly threw up on the station floor, which resulted in the chief inspector asking him to take the rest of the night off, visit a clinic and get some rest."

"A rest that dragged on through the week when it turned out that Fraser had the stomach bug that was worse than expected." Garfield interjected.

"Yes." Douglas nodded. "Fraser was placed on sick leave the following day and spent the rest of the week recuperating, during which he didn't exactly had the chance to give a detailed account on what Harper was up to during their patrol on the 28th."

"And all of this was when we were still assuming that the bank was robbed on the 1st." Atkinson interjected.

"Anyhow, by the time Fraser made his recovery, Professional Standards had already began its inquest into the lapse of communication regarding the crime scene in the TAs office and has turned their focus to Harper." Ironside continued.

"What exactly tipped Professional Standards off that led to the them zeroing in on Constable Harper?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"For one thing, as mentioned earlier, Fraser was positive that he didn't see Harper when they were patrolling near the bank during the time of the actual heist, and several constables back at the station verified Fraser's suspicions when followed up." Douglas replied. "Also, security alarm at the Dominion Capital Bank's safe didn't go off when breached during the heist."

"Which could only be the result of one of the robbers having the knowledge on the workings of the security system." Garfield interjected. "In turn, giving us the conclusion that the bank robbery itself was actually an inside job."

"Exactly." Atkinson nodded. "It turns out that the bank security guard who was on duty on the night of the heist had a history of working on safes, and he was also Harper's classmate during their time in the police college."

"Now, before the robbery occurred, the bank guard was under investigation by the bank for fraud." Ironside said. "The fraud investigation was initiated on the 24th of September as a result of a bank customer alerting Dominion Capital's management on the inconsistent accounting figures in a recent monthly investment report."

"And yet the guard wasn't placed on leave." Garfield interjected.

"No, he wasn't." McGuinty shook his head. "Though nonetheless, the guard soon became wise on what the bank was doing and decided to get even with the bank by planning this elaborate scheme."

"Which then led to the robbery at the Peterborough branch on the 26th." Garfield connected the dots. "Followed by the one here at Ottawa South couple days later, though for the case of Ottawa, it was only discovered on October 1st."

"That's right." Atkinson nodded. "And as things turned out, the fraud investigation revealed that the security firm hired by the bank to provide security, whom the guards are working for, had a history of questionable business practices and had seen its clients getting scammed out of their money during the course of the security contracts, not to mention the firm hires men that aren't exactly of good character expected from anyone working in security."

"With their employer exposed by the fraud investigation, those guards are bound to lose their jobs as their firm comes under scrutiny and the security contracts cancelled by the banks as a result." Garfield nodded.

"That pretty much sums things up regarding the robberies, Mr. Wu." Ironside nodded. "And I'm sure you'll find the identity of the customer whose alerting of the bank's management that led to the whole investigation in the first place to be interesting."

"Let me guess:" Garfield said before the sergeant could continue. "Professor James Moriarty, Jr. was the customer who alerted bank management on the inconsistent accounting figures on his monthly investment report."

"That's exactly it, Mr. Wu." Douglas nodded. "In fact, when Professional Standards found out Constable Harper's role in the robbery, namely him helping the conspirators in the robbery keeping knowledge of the heist buried, and confronted him on the fact, the constable initially denied the allegations but eventually caved in after evidence and testimonies from his fellow officers at the station emerged."

"I suppose that the fact that the whistleblowing customer was named after an infamous crime lord at turn-of-the-century London helped Harper's cause in the course of the massive scheme." Garfield offered. "Not to mention that messing around with the communications regarding the latest crime scene will help the conspirators in getting Moriarty locked up under murder charges."

"Your deduction had just hit the spot, Mr. Wu." Atkinson agreed. "Anyhow, Constable Harper has been suspended without pay in the duration of the investigation, though there's a good chance that more officers might be involved in this scheme, including some from Peterborough."

Garfield grunted as he nodded thoughtfully before adding, "Anyhow, whose prints were inside the water pipe from the professor's office?"

Noting the look of indifference on the investigator's faces, he then added, "I take it that the prints are not on file, eh?"

"That's right." Ironside nodded. "All we've got so far are fingerprints that aren't on file, metal pieces from a wrench, the fact that one of the killers wore steel toes and a range of possible heights of the killer."

There was some silence from the others before Garfield suddenly asked, "What about alibis?"

"What do you mean, Mr. Wu?" Douglas asked.

"On the morning of the 7th, you guys interviewed the TAs that used the office, as well as anyone who would have access to the professor's office, right?" Garfield folded his arms. "Besides the professor himself."

"Yes, we did." McGuinty nodded. "Are you suggesting that we take another look at the provided alibis?"

"Yes." Garfield nodded. "Sergeant Ironside said it himself. Prentice knew his killer, so we're definitely looking at the group of TAs that shares the office with him."

"And what about the professor?" Douglas asked.

"Either he conspired with one of the TAs and planned this whole scheme or he had nothing whatsoever to do with the murder and that two of the TAs were responsible for setting him up." Garfield replied. "My money's on the latter."

"What makes you say that?" Atkinson raised an eyebrow.

"Because if the professor really did it, his fingerprints would've been on the water pipe." Garfield pointed out.

"And what makes you absolutely certain that the professor use the wrench to kill Mr. Prentice?" Ironside asked.

"Being in his early-60s, the professor wouldn't have the strength to strike a single fatal blow with the wrench onto Mr. Prentice." Garfield replied. "And besides, is there any particular reason why a calculus professor would own a pair of steel toes?"

"If you need your kick in the chest to leave behind bruises, then you need to have the strength and energy to do that." Atkinson nodded thoughtfully.

"Exactly." Garfield nodded.

* * *

Soon, the five men were going through the alibis of the primary users of the office space on a Crime Board.

"Alright, so a total of six teaching assistants uses the office regularly." Douglas was saying once he finished tabulating the alibis of the TAs for the time of the murder.

The names were tabled alphabetically by last name, and the first name on the list was Marvin Bernier.

"At the time of the murder, Mr. Bernier stated that he was at the campus grill and bar relaxing for the day." McGuinty said.

"Anyone saw him in the bar?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Miss Leitch confirmed that he always spend his evenings at the bar to relax and deflate from a long day." Douglas frowned. "But anyways, anything else from the other five?"

"Moving on, Ms. Jessica Lacey stated that she was doing grocery shopping at Billings with a few friends." Atkinson said. "Several of her friends and a couple of salesmen at Ogilvy's confirmed that Ms. Lacey was shopping at the time of the murder."

"So we can remove her from the list." Garfield nodded.

"Next, Miss Mayella Leitch stated that she was in her apartment making a phone call at the time of the murder." Ironside continued. "Mr. Bernier mentioned that she always talk to her family back in Calgary on Wednesday nights each week."

"And then, Mr. Harrison Norris stated that he was finishing hockey practice at the time of the murder." Garfield read. "His coach and teammates all confirmed that he was present at the practice and the sign-in logs further confirmed his departure from the arena at nine, around 30 minutes after hockey practice ends."

"Mr. Larry Paddington had a dentist's appointment in Billings Bridge at the time of the murder." McGuinty continued. "Dental staff at the clinic confirmed that he didn't leave the clinic until quarter to nine."

"And finally, Ms. Heather Wilkinson was at the NAC watching a concert." Douglas said. "An usher who had inspected her tickets confirmed that she arrived in time for the 8:00 concert that night and that she didn't leave in the middle of the performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2"

"All of them solid alibis." Garfield nodded before frowning and added, "Though I do find it weird that no one else confirmed Marv and May's alibis, since there's a good chance that they might've alibied themselves."

"Well, even if their alibis are questionable, we are still lacking motive for the murder of Mr. Prentice." Atkinson said.

"Not to mention that we still don't have the murder weapon." Ironside added.

Garfield was silent for a while, then he said, "No, we don't. However, we do have two new suspects, where either one of them would have collaborated with the professor in planning this whole scheme or both of them are involved."

"Well, either way, we still need to find a motive for the murder, especially when you consider the fact that Mr. Prentice was well-liked." Douglas interjected.

"Right, so here's what we're going to do first thing tomorrow morning, gentlemen." Atkinson said. "Douglas, you and McGuinty are going to confirm Mr. Bernier and Miss Leitch's alibis on the night of the murder, in addition to get the search warrants prepared. Ironside, you, Mr. Wu and I are going to dig in to the backgrounds of our two new suspects."

"And what about the professor?" Garfield asked.

"If our theory is proved right, then Professor Moriarty, Jr. is going to walk out of the station a free man by tomorrow afternoon, Mr. Wu." Atkinson nodded.

* * *

_October 9, 1971_

The next morning, before he headed over to his morning lecture, Garfield dropped by the station, where he wasted no time making his way to the interview room.

Atkinson was speaking to the professor when he arrived, and the professor was shaking his head as Ironside let Garfield into the room.

"I should've acted sooner when I realized that something sinister was at work." Moriarty was shaking his head.

"What's the matter?" Garfield asked in greeting, and Moriarty and Atkinson turned towards him.

"The professor was explaining to us about a thesis paper for Mr. Bernier's postdoctoral candidacy which he had submitted for a scholarship award couple weeks before Mr. Prentice's untimely demise." Atkinson said.

"Yes." Moriarty nodded. "You see, the topic Mr. Bernier's paper was regarding Boolean algebra and how it applies to today's world on the eve of a new technological era with more powerful computers."

"I thought that computers can only store a certain amount of information due to spacing constraints." Garfield frowned.

"Well, not with what Mr. Bernier's paper is suggesting." Moriarty shook his head. "Long story short, if you apply Boolean logic with what computer engineers and scientists are trying to do with Moore's law, then we're looking at an exponential increase in the capacity for data and information processing and storage in computers."

"But there's something not right in Mr. Bernier's paper." Garfield interjected.

"That's right." Moriarty nodded. "A short while after I submitted the paper, Mr. Prentice alerted me to his findings regarding what Mr. Bernier had researched, where he pinpointed errors he had found on Mr. Bernier's paper and how they don't add up to what similar research in the subject by U of T, MIT and UCLA has been suggesting.

"And Mr. Bernier didn't acknowledge the research." Garfield said.

"No he didn't." Moriarty shook his head again. "In fact, when I told him that Mr. Prentice had found errors in his paper, Mr. Bernier got pretty defensive and insisted that his figures were correct."

"And when you withdraw the paper from the scholarship award, it flushed Mr. Bernier's chances of getting the scholarship down the toilet." Garfield interjected.

"Along with his postdoctoral studies." Moriarty nodded. "Mr. Bernier resented the way I stood up for Mr. Prentice's findings in his papers."

"And Mr. Bernier didn't exactly see eye-to-eye with Mr. Prentice." Ironside raised an eyebrow.

"No." Moriarty shook his head. "The two has been fiercely competitive since I hired Mr. Prentice this past winter to be my TA for a third year course I was teaching, and man, the young boy from Edmonton had a lot of promise."

"He was gifted and talented." Atkinson folded his arms.

"Not to mention having a bright path ahead of him." Moriarty nodded. "In fact, when I received invites for math society conferences, I sent Mr. Prentice to attend the conferences on my behalf."

"Which Mr. Bernier didn't appreciate." Garfield frowned.

"No, he didn't." Moriarty shook his head. "Mr. Bernier had promise, made no mistake. However, I've always noticed that he seems to be deeply ambitious, not to mention having an sized ego of sorts, where he always insisted on having the important work getting attributed to him."

"His biggest flaw was his pride." Ironside interjected.

"Exactly." Moriarty replied. "In this subject, it is essential to collaborate with your peers on your works so everyone can benefit from the knowledge. Not Mr. Bernier. He insists on working on his own and handle the major topics while pushing the boring, what he deemed to be minor or insignificant topics to Mr. Prentice."

"But calculus has important applications to science and engineering." Garfield said.

"I agree." Moriarty nodded. "But anyways, Mr. Bernier has always held the grudge since I told him about his flawed paper."

"He never get over Mr. Prentice helping you in pinpointing the errors in his paper." Atkinson frowned.

"No, he never did." Moriarty shook his head.

"And where does Miss Leitch fit into all of this?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, Mr. Bernier loved Miss Leitch like a sister." Moriarty replied. "They shared a special chemistry that has helped them work through the difficult times, not to mention they frequently know what the other thinks and sharing similar objectives and ambitions."

"And what was Miss Leitch's working relationship with Mr. Prentice like?" Ironside asked.

"They don't interact much outside of the tutorials." Moriarty folded his arms. "However, Miss Leitch has frequently complained that Mr. Prentice doesn't seem to know the rules around here since I brought him this past winter."

"She felt that Mr. Prentice was disruptive towards the dynamic of the way you've been trying to teach our classes, Professor?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"That's exactly it." Moriarty nodded. "She felt that I made a mistake bringing on Mr. Prentice and frequently complains to me about the way he's been teaching the tutorials, complaints that I've frequently attributed to her jealousy towards his ability to get the class more engaged in the topic at hand."

"And when you combine Miss Leitch's jealousy towards Mr. Prentice with Mr. Bernier's disdain and resentment as a result of you withdrawing his paper as per Mr. Prentice's advice, that's a recipe for motive for the murder." Atkinson nodded back.

"Yes, though most of what we've got so far are circumstantial evidence that would not hold up in court." Ironside frowned.

Before anyone else could speak up on the matter, a knock on the door to the interview room drew everyone's attention.

Atkinson walked over to answer it, and from where Garfield was standing, he saw Constable McGuinty was on the other side of the door and speaking to the inspector.

He, Moriarty and Ironside all arched their eyebrows as Atkinson thanked McGuinty before they and Sergeant Douglas reentered the room and joined them.

"Constable McGuinty and Sergeant Douglas just returned from their excursions in verifying Mr. Bernier and Miss Leitch's alibis." Atkinson said.

"And?" Ironside asked.

"The bartender and servers at the university's campus bar and grill that were on duty on the night of the murder didn't recall seeing Mr. Bernier in the bar as Miss Leitch had claimed." McGuinty said as he flipped open his notebook.

"He wasn't at the bar?" Garfield asked.

"No." Douglas shook his head. "In fact, when McGuinty and I showed Mr. Bernier's photo around to the staff, they were all insistent that none of them served Mr. Bernier in the bar on the night of the murder and that they would've remembered serving him if he was actually in the bar."

"I'm assuming that Mr. Bernier isn't a regular at the bar." Atkinson said.

"He isn't." McGuinty nodded. "The staff at the bar and grill were very positive that they never served or saw Mr. Bernier at the bar."

"Right then." Garfield nodded. "What about Miss Leitch's alibi?"

"Contacted Miss Leitch's family in Calgary." Douglas replied. "Turns out that her family had not spoken to Miss Leitch in months and were insistent on the fact when we pushed them."

"Have you contacted the phone company that Miss Leitch hooked her home phone service with?" Ironside asked.

"Already did." McGuinty replied. "They have logs on how long a customer has been using the phone and what time the call in question was initiated, and no, the company didn't have any logs that indicated that Miss Leitch was on a phone call at the time of the murder."

"Well, then." Atkinson nodded as they shared looks with each other before turning to the professor.

"Looks like you gentlemen are a step closer to clearing this case." Moriarty nodded.

"Yes, except that as Ironside had said earlier." Atkinson said. "All the evidence we had were circumstantial, which wouldn't hold up when the case moves through the courts."

"Not unless we figure out a way to nail the holes in the stories regarding their alibis." Garfield said. "Remember, those two had provided alibis for each other on the night of the murder, alibis that can't be verified by other potential witnesses, and when you consider that water pipe from the professor's office that has a set of fingerprints, it gives us an opportunity to nail the case."

"What are you suggesting, Mr. Wu?" Moriarty asked.

Garfield turned to him and said, "Considering what the investigators and I have compiled, what I've got in mind is simply this."

He then proceeded to outline his plan to the others in the room, and when he finished, they all nodded.

"Let's hope this works." Atkinson said.

* * *

**Please read and review!**


	9. It hits the fan and the end

Chapter 9: It hits the fan and the end

_October 10, 1971_

That morning, Garfield was on his way to the library when he decided to drop by the office of his calculus TAs.

He felt strangely relaxed as he glanced at his watch while standing by the office door, whistling as he did so.

Just as he turned his attention away from the watch, Miss Leitch called him.

"Garfield." She said, and Garfield turned towards her. "I wasn't expecting to see you here at this time on Tuesdays."

"Well, had a couple questions from the latest assignment that I thought I should clear with you and Marv before handing it in at tomorrow's tutorial." Garfield shrugged. "Hope you guys don't mind."

"Oh, we don't." Leitch smiled as she made her way to the office door and added, "Come one in."

Garfield nodded as he followed Leitch into the office where he saw Bernier and a couple other TAs from the other math courses at work at their desks grading papers.

Bernier looked up from his desk when he saw Leitch and Garfield enter the office.

"Hey Garfield." He greeted. "You got any questions?"

"Just a couple regarding the assignment." Garfield replied as Leitch took her seat.

"Go ahead." Bernier nodded.

A short while later, Garfield had gotten clear explanations on integrations of trig equations related to the final question of the assignment.

"Anything else, Garfield?" Leitch asked.

"Well, I thought you guys should know that Professor Moriarty was formally placed in police custody last night for Paul's murder." Garfield said simply. "A barrister has arrived to advise him on the charges facing him and from what I've heard, the police is going to have him booked by the Crown Attorney's Office as we speak."

There was some silence coming from the two TAs as Garfield spoke, and he couldn't tell how they're reacting to the news through their face expressions.

Eventually, Bernier spoke up.

"Ah, that's good to know." He said. "About time that old goat faces the music for his actions."

"How did they get the evidence needed to get him formally charged for the murder?" Leitch asked as she turned to Garfield.

"Well, there's this water pipe from the hole in his office." Garfield said. "While it was covered in rust, which can be mistaken for blood, the police did find a set of fingerprints at the top end inside the pipe."

Both Bernier and Leitch looked on as Garfield continued. "My hunch is that the professor was holding that pipe with both hands, one at the top and the other at the bottom, when he tried to strike Paul in the head."

The two TAs both nodded thoughtfully as Garfield concluded. "The professor had his fingerprints taken when he was booked by the police, and those fingerprints on the water pipe matched them, and when you match the rust on the pipe with the rust found on Paul's body, it's a foregone conclusion that Professor Moriarty was the killer. With that evidence in hand, the professor's going away for a long time for murder."

There was some silence between the two TAs and Garfield, and then Bernier spoke up.

"You gave the old man too much credit, Garfield." Bernier said. "How does he have the strength to strike Paul in the head and bash him like he did?"

"Not to mention that he would need a partner if he actually managed to tackle Paul, strike him out and set him up at his desk to make it look like Paul was killed as a result of heavy books falling off the bookshelf above him at his desk." Leitch added.

"All of that's bound to take up a lot of energy, especially when you consider that Paul regularly works out in the gym." Bernier added. "And there's no way that old goat can tackle Paul single-handed when he ambushed him in his office that night."

"You guys are right." Garfield nodded. "In fact, the professor had an accomplice in helping him commit the murder, though the professor has so far remained as tight as a rock when the police asked him for information on the accomplice."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Bernier asked.

"Well, now that you mention that, Marv." Garfield paused his lips. "Yes, there is. As Paul was tackled by his killer, he received a kick in the chest."

"Who must be wearing steel toes, or otherwise it wouldn't have left some significant bruising." Bernier said.

"Not to mention that your second killer must've had the proper tools to finish Paul off, since that old goat can't tackling Paul on his own and knock him out with that water pipe." Leitch nodded.

"Of course." Garfield nodded before turning to face the two TAs and added, "That pretty much describes Paul's final minutes here in this office. There's only one problem with it, though."

"What's the problem?" Leitch asked.

Finally making eye contact with the two TAs, Garfield slammed his hands on the desk as he raised his voice, "How on earth did you guys know that the killer was wearing steel toes or the fact that the killer even had an accomplice, eh? I didn't even mention those particular details when I told you guys about the professor's situation, not unless you both were here in the office that night."

No words could describe the silence in the office when Garfield made that last remark. The other two TAs in the office paused from their work and turned towards the trio, while both Bernier and Leitch's mouths hanged wide open as they realized that they had just walked into an ambush.

Not mincing any words, Garfield continued as he glared at the two TAs. "Am I right? You guys were here in this office with Paul that night, isn't it? And you guys murdered Paul here and set the professor up to take the fall for the crime, is that right?"

Although the office was quiet saving Garfield's outburst, an observer can hear two careers crashing down the minute Garfield moved in with the kill.

"Paul alerted the professor to the flaws in your paper and you didn't appreciate the feedback and believed that your figures can't be wrong, isn't it, Marv?" Garfield glared at Bernier. "You felt that Paul cheated you out of your postdoctoral studies and scholarship, all because you felt that you can't be wrong and that your ego is the size of the Moon, eh?"

Without missing a beat, he then turned to Leitch.

"As for you, May, you didn't like the way Paul was teaching the tutorials, even though many in class has taken a liking to his approach and felt that he made the tutorials more engaging to them, and you complained to the professor and said that he was stealing your thunder." Garfield continued with a huff. "Complaints which the professor dismissed as he could see that you and Marv were simply jealous of Paul's successes. Isn't that right?"

As the two TAs sat there in silence, Garfield turned towards the two other TAs in the office and nodded at them, the look on his face telling them to leave the office before it hits the fan.

The two other TAs both nodded back and stood up without another word, and their timing couldn't have been more better, because it was that exact moment that Bernier hit back.

"You don't have any evidence in your accusations, Garfield." He snapped.

"And neither of you have solid alibis on the night of the murder." Garfield countered evenly as he folded his arms. "You guys don't, not after the police checked up with the campus bar and grill and the phone company, both of them disproving the alibis you guys have set up for each other."

He then glared as he looked down towards Bernier's shoes and said, "In fact, I'm looking right at evidence that you were the one who attempted to tackle Paul that night, only for Paul to dodge your attacks and tried to knock you off before May walked into the scene with a wrench in hand, knocked Paul out and then you gave him a kick in the chest. You worked in a warehouse, eh?"

"So I can make ends meet ever since that dirt bag costed me my scholarship." Bernier gritted his teeth as he noted that Garfield was looking at his steel toes.

Turning to Leitch, Garfield then added, "As for you, May, the police has searched through the garbage centre and found the blood-soaked jeans you wiped Paul's blood off from the wrench in the garbage, and I'll bet that as we speak, they're going to find the wrench you used to strike Paul in your apartment, a wrench that came in handy for your work as a handy man."

Then, looking squarely at the two TAs, Garfield said, "All of this because you guys couldn't accept what you perceived to Paul's swipe at your egos and costing you your postdoctoral scholarship."

Folding his arms, he finally asked, "Tell me. Was going through the trouble of murdering Paul and setting the professor up to take the fall worth it?"

Eying no responses from the two TAs and noting the looks on their faces, Garfield huffed as he glared. "I've thought so."

Without missing a beat, Garfield grabbed his belongings and turned to walk towards the door.

On his way out, he added, "Oh, and don't bother threatening me with my life, because you guys are only digging yourselves into a deeper hole, especially when you consider the fact that we're not alone in here."

Garfield opened the door and said, "You can come in now."

The police constables at the other side of the door nodded back at him before they made their way into the office with their handcuffs ready.

Garfield stepped out of the office and saw some people gathering to watch the drama unfold, then he turned and saw Inspector Atkinson, Sergeant Ironside and Professor Moriarty.

The inspector nodded at him approvingly as the constables arresting the two soon-to-be former TAs can be heard reminding the duo that they have the right to seek counsel and to remain silent.

A short while later, the two disgraced TAs were escorted out of the office and paused when they saw Professor Moriarty.

Moriarty clearly looked disappointed at the sight of his two TAs, and he shared Garfield's glare as he and the two TAs made eye contact.

There was some silence before one of the constables said, "Let's go."

Garfield and the professor continued to look on as the constables continued to escort the two TAs out of the building, where through the nearby window, they can see Bernier and Leitch being ordered onto the squad cars.

* * *

_October 11, 1971_

That day, Garfield arrived at his calculus tutorial at the usual time with his completed assignment in hand and ready to be submitted.

As he took his seat, he heard a lot of whispers in class about the arrests yesterday and that the professor's likely going to take over the tutorial himself for the time being.

Sure enough, two minutes before the tutorial began, Professor James Moriarty, Jr. walked into the classroom with stacks of files in hand.

The professor first made eye contact with Garfield, and he nodded back at him before the professor got the files in order and cleared his throat.

As things turned out, the professor began the class by simply stating that he got called away for some important business at the last minute, hence the reason why he wasn't able to make it to last Friday's lecture.

As the professor carried on with the tutorial, Garfield simply began writing into his notebook paper as he followed along with the class.

* * *

That afternoon, Moriarty had wrapped up the lecture at the usual time and most of the class were on their way out.

Garfield was speaking with Kate and Robert when he saw the professor, who had just finished answering a question to another student, nodding at him, motioning him to come join him.

"Ah, gotta go now, guys." Garfield said. "The prof and I have an appointment with the police and we don't wanna be late for that."

"Does it have something to do with the 'important business' he mentioned during the tutorial?" Kate asked.

"Pretty much, yes." Garfield nodded. "See you guys on Friday."

"Yep." Robert raised his hand in reply. "See you, Garfield."

* * *

Soon, the professor and Garfield were at the Riverside station, where they promptly met with the investigators.

"Well?" Garfield asked Atkinson in greeting.

"Mr. Bernier and Miss Leitch both confessed to murdering Paul Prentice and setting up the professor to take the fall for the crime." Atkinson replied.

"I'm sure they did." Moriarty nodded. "Heck, they had the nerve to blame me for letting all of this happening in the first place."

"Some people just holds grudges and never lets go of them, Professor." Ironside said. "Anyhow, if it weren't for Mr. Wu's help, we wouldn't have been able to take your claims seriously and clear your name."

"Oh, yes." Moriarty nodded as they all turned towards Garfield. "You sure were of great help in clearing this whole affair, Mr. Wu."

"Ah, it was nothing, Professor." Garfield waved his hand dismissively. "Important thing is that the cases are now closed."

"And we also owe you an apology for the way we treated you earlier, Professor Moriarty." Atkinson added.

"No need." Moriarty waved his hand dismissively. "You gentlemen were only doing your jobs, and I would've done the same thing if I were in your positions."

"Anyways, what has become of the blue binder Bernier claimed to have contained notes on the detailed planning of the robberies?" Garfield asked. "I take it that such notes didn't really exist and were, in fact, Paul's notes detailing the questions he had raised on Bernier's postgraduate thesis paper."

"That's exactly it." Moriarty nodded. "I remember Mr. Prentice using the blue binder frequently when he discusses topics and questions with me during our meetings, and that trouble maker Mr. Bernier sure had the nerve to falsely state that the blue binder contained evidence of the robberies that had occurred the past while."

"Robberies in which he had only learned about through the news and have no role in the planning or execution of it whatsoever." Ironside nodded. "And speaking of which, Professor, you did good in setting the investigation into that security firm's fraudulent practices in motion in the first place."

"It's what I do, especially when I noticed a number of discrepancies in my financial statement which couldn't be explained by the bank when I raised the issue." Moriarty said. "I used to audit a number of financial records when I worked at the University of Edinburgh when I was living across the pond, before the war, so such discrepancies can be noticed by me at first sight."

"Was that part of your own post-graduate studies back in the day?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Moriarty nodded. "I can go into great detail of my thesis that led to me auditing the university's books, however it's a long story that I'm afraid would have to wait for another time."

"And what of the postcards of the  _Girl with the Gazelle_  that were found at the scene of those robberies?" Garfield asked. "How did the racketeers managed to get those postcards into your office?"

"Well, one of the officers involved in the scheme happened to have a university-aged child that was good friends with Mr. Bernier." Ironside said.

"Huh." Garfield remarked with his arms folded. "So it turns out that Mr. Bernier was involved in those robberies, though indirectly."

"Yes, especially since he and Miss Leitch both have access to my office." Moriarty nodded.

"Anyhow, what are you going to do next for your courses, Professor Moriarty?" Atkinson asked. "I'm sure it's going to be a lot of workload for you to teach and manage three courses without the assistance of teaching assistants."

"Well, I've asked my colleagues for assistance, and they told me that they can lend me their assistants for the remainder of the fall term until I get some new TAs on board." Moriarty replied. "I've already put out the notice and from what I've got from my colleague Larson McKeller, a lot of the candidates have a lot of promise."

"Considering your reputation, Professor, I'm sure that a lot of TAs are willing to work with you and be happy to have the experience of working with someone who's related to a criminal mastermind." Garfield interjected.

"Pretty much, yes." Moriarty smiled as they all chuckled.

* * *

_November 2, 1971_

Several weeks has went by since the dust surrounding the whole Moriarty affair has settled and things had gone back to normal for Garfield.

While he continued with his studies and work in assisting the police in solving crimes, he also began making a name for himself in the university as several professors noted that they're very impressed with the way he helped clear Moriarty's name.

With his high academic achievements, his Intro to Engineering professor mentioned that he should consider applying to be his teaching assistant for the course in the winter term, a suggestion that Garfield stated that he would think about it.

Anyways, that evening, as usual, Garfield was at RCAF Station Uplands for his twice-weekly cadet training.

He and Dave arrived at the usual times, though for his case, he was called over to meet with the wing's CO when he arrived.

"What's up?" Garfield asked in greeting when he met with Wing Commander Dalton Henderson, who succeeded Lester Turner as the 6th Wing's commanding officer, along with the squadron COs in attendance.

By this point, the other cadet parade commanders of each of the other squadrons of 6th Wing had also arrived for the meeting.

"6th Wing is going to host a reviewing officer as we always do on our monthly COs parade, Mr. Wu." Henderson said. "This month, though, as we approach Remembrance Day, we're going to host a reviewing officer from another branch of the Canadian Armed Forces in recognition of the sacrifices made by the other branches during the wars."

"Canadian Army?" WO1 Bernard Lambert, the cadet parade commander for the Rockcliffe squadron, asked.

"Exactly, WO1 Lambert." Henderson nodded before turning to Garfield and added, "That being said, considering what you had tangled with this past month, WO1 Wu, I'm certain you're going to be intrigued by who our reviewing officer for tonight's COs parade is."

All eyes settled onto Garfield as something clicked in his mind, and he chuckled.

"Man, these coincidences just wouldn't stop, would it?" Garfield asked.

"I'm afraid not, WO1 Wu." Henderson shook his head with a small smile.

"What coincidences are we talking about here?" WO1 David Larrison, the cadet parade commander of the Connaught squadron, asked.

"Namely the fact that Wu had tangled with the grand nephew of Professor James Moriarty, the Napoleon of Crime at the turn of the century London." Leclerc explained. "The grand nephew who is his calculus professor and is named after his infamous grand uncle."

"Oh, that." Larrison nodded.

"And let me guess." Garfield added. "Our reviewing officer is Colonel Sebastian Moran, isn't it?"

"You guessed it, WO1 Wu." Henderson smiled. "Colonel Sebastian Arthur Moran, who commands the Royal Canadian Regiment at Garrison Petewawa, is going to be our reviewing officer for tonight's closing parade."

"And I take it that he's related to and is named after the infamous Sebastian Moran, who was Moriarty's chief of staff, isn't he?" Garfield added.

"He comes from a military family, yes." Henderson nodded. "But anyways, here's what the wing's activities are going to be for tonight, in preparation for Remembrance Day..."

As the wing commander continued on with his discussion, Garfield drew out a breath and shook his head at himself.

He then shrugged before returning his focus back to the meeting on hand, during which the scene shifts to the back of the nearby grandfather clock.

From the back of the clock, one can notice the name of the clock maker.

Garfield & Stephenson Clocks Ltd., 1921.

* * *

**The adventures of Garfield Stephenson Wu continues in _D4 Scooby-Doo!_** _**Riddle of le Chevalier de Place des Arts.** _

**Please read and review!**


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